Dimensional Innovation
by Radomir's Renegades
Summary: Two seeds descended from humanity's first Innovator are scattered in two separate worlds. Celestial Being has to find them and prevent the world from descending into war once again while one man sought to destroy them both.
1. Of Rouge Nins and Aliens

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam SEED and Gundam 00.**_

Welcome readers, to the Shippuden Next rewrite, titled 'Dimensional Innovation', only I've dropped Bleach as a fourth crossover anime. This time, I have included the characters from Gundam 00 instead of Bleach characters in the Bleach SEED Shippuden Next. There will be major changes in this fic, mostly the shifting of sides and factions, as well as adding some elements that are reminiscent of Turn A Gundam.

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_**Turn One: Of Rouge Nins and Aliens**_

In the last two thousand years of human history, peace has been established. Humanity has learned the price of its aggression on itself by heeding the warnings of another life form that nearly wiped out their existence. Throughout human history, no one has broken the chains of conflict without having to resort to compile up arms to protect themselves. Even the advances in science in technology have been used for both good and bad purposes. Just as the first humans disobeyed God's command not to eat the forbidden fruit, so sin came into the world through the first murder of Abel. Eventually, human history would be notoriously known for its stench of blood which dominates its drenched pages. Two World Wars haven't steered humanity in the right direction, only the opposite. Even an armed intervention by a group long rumored to be dormant known as Celestial Being couldn't change humanity's old ways, although Celestial Being managed to help broker the peace that flourished for two thousand years. The same principle has applied to a parallel world, unlike any of our own world but with some interesting changes.

However, the events that occured on one side of the world is unmatched by what will happen on another world in which the ELS is currently living. In this kind of world that the other seed that has sprouted now carries an extra burden that labels him as an outcast, unworthy of association. It would certainly have been a tragic end if it wasn't for the fact that one mentor has seen him as human. But now, external forces are out there to make sure that his death will happen if they wish for their vision of a new world would flourish,but one man would make sure that it goes farther than just simple rulership.

The atmosphere surrounding this great, vast land was anything but peaceful. Bloodshed and the sounds of war dominated every single second of the lives of all combatants involved in this new war that had broken out. In the heart of this conflict, a blond haired man and a black haired man charged towards each other, their weapons clashing in the broad daylight. One of them wears the traditional armor of the Uchiha clan while the other man wears the armor of the Senju clan. Their fierce rivalry now boiling up to the surface, and threatening to spill over unless one of them is either dead, or weak enough to be captured. In this case, the goal of one is the death or weakened state of the other. In the distance, another boy watches the fight with curiosity and contempt. He (ees both warriors as pests who should be killed.

_So that is Uchiha Sasuke. Grandfather, I shall avenge your death._The boy thought to himself furiously while the battle dragged on. He waited for the right moment to strike, aware of the fact that he wouldn't take this chance to strike should another man intervene before him.

"Just do me a favor and surrender, Naruto. I would like to kill you, but I'm under Madara's orders to take you in," Uchiha Sasuke told his opponent, who simply ignored him. The Uchiha breathed out a gust of flames towards his enemy, but Uzumaki Naruto dodged the attack and replied back by kicking him into the ground. "Not bad. You've certainly changed from that old loser to the most dangerous man I've ever fought."

"I'm fighting for the right reasons, Sasuke. Now that I've seen what you really are, I don't need to consider you as my best friend anymore," Naruto replied back coldly. He gathered some chakra and jumped up before Sasuke could his face, which he blocks it and throws him to the ground. The Uchiha responded by grabbing his legs with a wire and threw him down into the boulder. "I feel the same way."

"Typical of you, Naruto. Tell me, have you discovered your true origins yet?" Sasuke asked back. "Uchiha and Senju clans are determined to fight each other, simply because their ancestors descended from the Rikudo Sennin, and the same Sennin was succeeded by a Senju ancestor instead of an Uchiha."

Naruto ducked in time to dodge Sasuke's foot aiming at his head. "If you mean that the jonin's vest had that swirling shape, and the fact that the Shodaime Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki, then yes I know. My mother told me about it."

"Then it's imperative that we must end this rivalry once and for all," Sasuke replied back solemnly.

In the far distance, a hundred thousand Zetsu clones swarmed towards an encampment where eighty thousand shinobi and samurai warriors were defending the village of Kumogakure. Casualties ran high for both sides, although the defending shinobi's luck started to run out as more casualties piled up on their sides. The observant boy watched continuously as Naruto and Sasuke fought each other fiercely.

"I've grown tired of this charade." Sasuke sighed in disappointment and charges up a Chidori. He begins to spread the rod of lightning throughout the fields as Naruto gathers wind chakra into his palm. "Chidori Stream!"

"Wind Style: Wind Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, but the boy watching the fight decided to jump into the fray and deflect the attacks, causing an explosion. "What was that?"

"Foolish idiot, interrupting our fight," Sasuke snarled furiously. Madara appeared a while later, and it was only a matter of time before the boy who intervened started to fight him. "Pathetic. That boy can't even defeat Madara."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Madara may be strong, but he's way past his prime."

The boy summoned five Shadow Clones and threw a shuriken at Madara, which he easily dodged. Madara was forced to move away from the surging clones led by the real boy as he tried to use the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, but one of the clones blew himself up and created a smokescreen. Madara paused for a moment, waiting for the real copy to attack. Before he could attack, the boy spoke up.

"Uchiha Madara, you're the man who turned my grandfather's killer into one of your goons. Is that right?" the boy asked calmly as he gripped his own kunai.

"Right. I am he, the man who wished to make the world mine. You on the other hand, are either brave or foolish in fighting me," Madara replied back, but the smokescreen vanished to reveal a black haired boy with custom armor and a wakizashi on his hand. "So you're Danzo's grandson. Shimura Naraku."

"Correct, and I am here to avenge the death of my beloved grandfather, and to restore the honor of the Shimura clan, which has been in a constant decline, notably thanks to the Uchiha and Senju clans. The clan that I wish to exterminate however, is the Namikaze clan," Naraku spat back silently as he continued to tighten the grip on his kunai. "Tell me, what ever happened to my grandfather's set of Sharingan eyes that he grabbed for the sake of Konoha?"

"You mean, how he _robbed _the dead Uchiha of their eyes for his selfish use? Or tell me, did you know that your grandfather was Orochimaru's guinea pig when he decided to mix the kekkei genkai of both Senju and Uchiha clans for the sole purpose of controlling the Kyuubi, or rather, its jinchuuriki," Madara asked back as Naraku turned towards Naruto and Sasuke. Naraku gasped in shock at the sight of the current jinchuuriki in front of him. "Why do you wish to fight me?"

"To restore the honor of the Shimura clan, of course. We're a respected clan who places the way of the shinobi above all else. The Senju and Uchiha clans planted the seeds of dishonor into my clan when they refused to allow my grandfather Danzo to rule Konoha. He was working for our village's best interests," Naraku answered back, eagerly defending the ideals in which he was taught while working as a Root ANBU shinobi. "I was placed under Root to flourish with my grandfather's teachings. He would have been made a perfect Hokage, but the Nidaime had to appoint that bleeding heart Sarutobi Hiruzen as Sandaime. Worse, his successor tried to implement the destructive teachings of equality and humanity into this world. Yes, Namikaze Minato is the man who nearly led Konoha into ruin and would have done so had he lived."

"And yet he died. What can you accomplish should you kill _both _the jinchuuriki _and _my new apprentice?" Madara asked back. Naraku laughed and grinned. "You seem to have sunk so low as to defend the actions of your grave robber of a grandfather."

"Do I have to tell you the same thing all over again? In addition, I can kill two birds with one stone and even become Hokage if I wished to. Thanks to that old hag Tsunade, my Root ANBU are now reviled as criminals, hunted down until we're extinct. I won't ally myself with you, the chief creator of chaos. Rather, I shall bring this world under my control," Naraku replied back before he made another handseal, but panted heavily after it was summoned. "Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon Gate!"

"Ugh! You're going to put me in _that _gate? Good luck with that!" Madara teleported away from the gate as Naraku forced himself to recall the huge gate, but he had to retreat away from the battlefield.

Naruto and Sasuke resumed their fight as soon as Naraku fled from the battlefield and Madara had to retreat back to his hideout. Almost out of chakra, they charge up their final attacks and run towards each other.

"Sasuke, this is for the future of the entire world!"

"Naruto, this is for the Uchiha clan's honor!"

Both attacks collide, but before Naruto and Sasuke land their attacks on each other, the same boy who observed them fight deflected their attacks into the ground and threw them off. Sasuke was the first one to spot the newcomer with contempt as Naruto gasped in shock and surprise at the recognition of a boy who once was their schoolmate in the academy.

"Who the hell are you, and why did you interrupt our fight not once, but twice?" Sasuke sneered, blocking Naraku's kunai strike. Naruto tried to attack Naraku as well, but he too, was blocked by his kunai.

"Don't you remember my grandfather, Danzo? The man you've just killed, and yet you can't remember his grandson?" Naraku sneered back before aiming a kick at the Uchiha's head. Naruto intervened by aiming a Rasengan at Naraku's back, but the Root ANBU agent sidestepped and kicked Naruto aside. "This is why jinchuuriki like you shouldn't be trained well, or else their loyalty to the village they live in would be suspect."

"Easy for you to say. Have you ever been a jinchuuriki before?" Naruto asked back furiously before he and Sasuke stopped engaging Naraku and looked up. "If you haven't been one, then why do you see us as tools, not humans?"

"Because you _aren't _humans at all! Even when the Rikudo Sennin made himself the first jinchuuriki, he was no longer human. Besides, the way of the shinobi practically destroyed our way of life as humans," Naraku spoke back before he threw another smoke grenade and disappeared. "This isn't the end of me."

Sasuke watched as the renegade Root ANBU shinobi disappeared and noticed a patrol of Konoha jonin approaching him. They surrounded the Uchiha as Kakashi approached him, along with Yamato and Uzuki Yugao. Naruto watched Sasuke anxiously to see what he would do in response to the growing presence of Konoha shinobi, whose aims were to arrest this renegade and bring him to justice.

"Is there anything you would like to say before we take you in for questioning?" Kakashi asked his former student. The one eyed jonin hoped to see some repentance inside the Uchiha heir, but hardly expected it. To their surprise, Sasuke began to speak.

"Yeah. I would like to form a truce with you. A temporary truce." Sasuke offered, but the Konoha shinobi cried out in disapproval at the proposal. "While I go hunt down the grandson of that grave robber. I just killed the man who's also responsible for ordering Itachi to kill every member of the Uchiha clan and brought it close to ruin."

No jonin was anticipating in this proposal, and even Kurenai and the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, arrived a minute later to see the source of commotion. Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji went towards Naruto and helped him up while the remaining Konoha Eleven approached their friends. Although no one had trusted Sasuke for what he's done to the entire world, the fact that the Root ANBU had gone rouge under Danzo's dangerously vengeful grandson had more clout than even dealing with the Akatsuki, which had now been reduced to almost virtually nothing. Finally, Tsunade turned to face Sasuke and spoke back, albeit with a hint of suspicion, as to make sure that he (stuck)stick to his end of the deal.

"All right, Uchiha Sasuke. We'll agree to this minor truce in exchange for giving you a free hand in killing every single Root ANBU. However, once that mission is complete, you will be taken into our custody and be given a fair trial," Tsunade spoke back. Sasuke nodded and disappeared from the view, along with Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo. She then turned towards Naruto and spoke. "Naruto, I know that you'd had a hard time facing your former teammate, but as of now, I am giving you a chance for a promotion to either chunin or jonin."

"Well, I could go for the rank of chunin as I am still a genin," Naruto replied back, but he saw Homura and Koharu walk towards him. He was surprised to see the two elders bow towards him for some odd reason. "Uh...I don't know what to say."

"Uzumaki Naruto. I believed that we owe you something for what you've endured. Like Danzo, we saw you as a tool, not as a human being. Unfortunately, because of our actions, Konoha was nearly destroyed. We would like to thank you for defeating the leader of Akatsuki, Pein," Homura replied back, but Naruto shook his head and smiled.

"Pein was just a front man. Uchiha Madara was the real leader, and it was actually Shimura Naraku who took him out," Naruto answered back, shocking everyone present. "Shimura Naraku wanted to kill both me and Sasuke as atonement for letting Danzo die at Sasuke's hands."

"Hello?" a voice called out. Homura looked back as the Daimyo joined the crowd along with his bodyguards. "I'm sorry for being late."

"That's all right." Koharu nodded. She beckoned for Naruto to follow them into the village where the villagers shouted in jubilation at his arrival. Once they came inside the room designed for the meeting, the elders turned to him.

"Still, there is something that we need to tell you. You must come with us to the Hokage tower to confirm something," Koharu beckoned for Naruto to follow them into the village where the villagers shouted in jubilation at his arrival. Once they came inside the room designed for the meeting, the elders turned to him. "You were once Master Jiraiya's apprentice while he lived. Now that the first generation of the Legendary Sannin are going to fade away, we need three new candidates."

Naruto at first, didn't know what was going on. Why were the elders of Konoha telling him about the fading legacy of the sannin? However, the Fire Daimyo decide to continue the explanation in order to give Naruto a clear picture.

"I understand that you've progressed much, despite the fact that you're still a genin. To reward you for your efforts, we of the Fire Country have decided to give you a spot within the Twelve Shinobi Guardians." the Daimyo proposed, shocking both Naruto and the elders. "As of now, we're five ninja short of the original twelve, meaning that there are only seven shinobi left."

Naruto held up his hand. "I'm sorry. I am tempted with those rewards, but all I am asking is to be commissioned as either chunin or jonin. My skills were above genin-level, and I wasn't promoted at all."

"Due to the circumstances at hand, and the fact that Danzo sought to prevent you from advancing, that was inevitable. As of now, we're going to promote you to Chunin. Only with the destruction of the Root ANBU can we award you with another rank, Naruto," Koharu told him as Homura gave him a scroll. "This is the last will and testament of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato and his wife Uzumaki Kushina. Inside is a prophecy, I'm sure you'll decipher it."

Naruto opened the scroll and immediately began to read its contents. A long letter from his parents dominated the scroll's space, while a short prophecy was inscribed down at the bottom of the page.

_The last will and testament of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina:_

_As I l__ay__ down on my bed, weakened after giving birth to a special little baby boy, I knew that my time in this world __was__ fading fast. The Kyuubi __has __been __released by Madara__. __No__ doubt he is here to seek revenge on Konoha for scorning him. Naruto, if you are reading this letter, you'll __have known your parents by now. __Your__ father made a special seal __should__ you lose your consciousness. Your father__ would appear__ in__ your conscience should you release the seal that held the Kyuubi inside, and I would appear to you should you lose to your inner hatred. You were given the name Uzumaki because the Sandaime wanted to protect you from your father's enemies. Now that you're of age, you can decide whether to accept your father's name or not. On the plus side, the Uzumaki clan married into the Senju clan, which makes Tsunade effectively either your aunt, surrogate mother or your grandmother. (Although please do not call her grandmother as she is sensitive to her appearance.) Anyways, there is a prophecy that appeared from over two thousand years ago. If you can decipher the prophecy, then you are on your way to becoming a very special man._

_Uzumaki Kushina_

_P.S.: Two seeds, brought forth from Humanity's Liaison through the union with the Matriarch of Eternal Peace that we treasure, shall sprout from the ground of conflict. One seed shall sprout to become the inspiration of the world while the other seed shall become the knight who will help the other seed to destroy the distortions of the world, and must prevent humanity from destroying itself or a great tribulation shall come to reap retribution upon us all._

"Hmm...two seeds. Now this is interesting." Naruto told himself as he was led out of the office by the Daimyo himself, eager to find out the mystery of this prophetic riddle.

* * *

**VEDA CHAMBER**

* * *

Even after two thousand years, Celestial Being did not really become extinct. They simply helped usher in a peace that reigned for two thousand years. Now that VEDA had predicted another conflict, Tieria Erde wondered if this conflict was related to the prophecy that was written by either one of the genuine Innovators, Setsuna F. Seiei, or the woman whom he fell in love with and bore him two sons in addition to the orphans whom she had adopted after the war with the A-LAWS was over.

"Setsuna, is this conflict? The one that you predicted? A war between two genetically different peoples, should it become a war of extermination?" Tieria wondered to himself in his incorporeal body. "Ever since the ELS turned you into one of them, peace has reigned throughout this world, and you're immortal. Now, VEDA tells me that there will be another war. Is this true? What happened to the peace we had? Is it because humans have created the first coordinator? Whatever it is, they've sown the seeds of conflict and have potentially destroyed whatever peace we have left." He continued to pace around VEDA and came up with an idea. "I'm going to awaken someone to help me. Hixar Fermi, Regene Regetta. Guys, wake up."

No sooner did Tieria gave the order for the two Innovades to wake up from their cryogenic sleep did they actually wake up. After the war with the ELS was over, Tieria and Setsuna had to choose three people to oversee the search for the latter's two seeds, whose descendants could be found with the help of Setsuna's ELS abilities. Being an immortal human/alien hybrid, Setsuna could search for the two seeds and find them easily. However, Tieria wisely decided not to awaken Setsuna up so as to allow the Innovades to roam first. The exception to this order was Fon Spaak, who was also chosen to become the third search party member, albeit he would be the last one to awaken.

"All right, Tieria. What is it? There's no conflict, and Ribbons Almark was permanently erased from VEDA's memory. So why give the order to wake us up?" Regene Regetta asked his twin. "Is it because of Setsuna's prophecy?"

"I believe it's time we start recruiting for new generation of Gundam Meisters. Now that the other two are long dead and one of them is already assigned to the 00 QanT, we're gonna need three new Meisters. I can already commission myself into the ranks, but we need new Gundams too. Two thousand years of preparation should have allowed us to build four Gundams quickly, and from scratch too," Tieria told Regene and Hixar. "Although the Federation has gained access to the GRM and 1(pronounced Ai) Gundams, they have yet to regain their ability to build GN Drives, most notably because the ELS had destroyed them in the Reconstruction War."

"A pity really, but those aliens have graciously left off a few GN Tau Drives so that when the right time comes, it will be acquired again. Not like what Ribbons and Alejandro Corner did," Hixar replied back. He waited for a moment until Tieria started to explain the mission. "Although there was a GN Drive that emitted violet particles, presumably from the aliens' assimilated mobile suits."

"We need new Meisters. One or two can come in from the ELS's home world, and the other one can come from here. If I am correct, the gateway to the ELS's home world is located in the assimilated Jupiter moon Europa," Tieria explained. He waited for Hixar and Regene to dress up so they can start their journey. "Good luck to your travels."

"No need." Regene and Hixar left the VEDA chamber and boarded a shuttle, no doubt headed towards the ELS's home world through the gateway. "Hixar, it seems to me that we should commence the search for Setsuna F. Seiei's two lost seeds."

"Of course. The first location would have to be where the ELS resides," Hixar replied back as the shuttle approached the portal. The ELS aliens, resembling GN Fangs of jumbo size, allowed them to enter their home world and teleported them into their home world. Regene was shocked to see that the ELS's world was just an ocean away from another world, and(,) to their surprise, there were humans who resided in that world, but oblivious to the presence of the aliens. "Regene, it begins."

"The search for the new Meisters has begun."

* * *

**UNKNOWN HIDEOUT**

* * *

Yakushi Kabuto just barely escaped the clutches of death as soon as the Root ANBU started to swarm around the new Akatsuki base. Hearing about Madara's near demise at the hands of an unknown stranger, Kabuto investigated the disappearance, hoping to find the culprit and kill that person before he or she killed him next. Just as Kabuto was about to go inside the hideout, Naraku appeared behind him.

"So...Yakushi Kabuto, former subordinate to Orochimaru of Otogakure, right?" Naraku asked serenely. Kabuto smirked at the appearance of the newcomer, believing he wasn't the one who was responsible for Madara's disappearance. "I'm here to join forces."

"Really? The fact that you've attacked Sasuke just to settle your grudge against him for Danzo's death seems to be so strange. You've also attacked Naruto, right?" Kabuto asked curiously before Naraku teleported close to him. "What's the hold up? Afraid that I might possess your body?"

"Actually, it's the other way around, Kabuto. I acutally took these eyes from Madara and have plans for them." Naraku showed Kabuto the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. "If memory serves me right, Orochimaru wanted to gain access to the Sharingan, right? Now that he's dead, I would continue his research. Scratch that, I'm going to abandon that project and simply dispose of the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. Only the Byakugan remains, but it too will be destroyed. I have my reasons for their destruction."

Kabuto was amused at Naraku's decision to dispose of two valuable weapons and felt disappointed that he wasn't going to grant his dead master's wish of gaining the Sharingan. Even though Orochimaru is technically dead, his remains were absorbed my both Kabuto and Sasuke. Now that Sasuke will inevitably put his revenge on Konoha on hold so he can fight and kill Naraku, Kabuto starts to think whether he could kill Naruto as well.

"Why destroy them when you can use them?" Kabuto asked back.

"Kekkei genkai has resulted in Konoha's shinobi becoming over reliant on those abilities. It's up to me to eventually get rid of the world's kekkei genkai so that the true strength of the shinobi will be pure, untouched by such monstrous upgrades. Even the jinchuuriki are going to die out in the end, but I am going to be the one who will lead the jinchuuriki to their deaths, and with that the last despicable connection to the Rikudou Sennin. My grandfather was given a kekkei genkai to use, but he was a guinea pig. I won't sink down to that level." Naraku explained before he reached for a katana and impaled Kabuto with it. "Yakushi Kabuto, you're just in the way of my plans. I plan on not only ridding the shinobi world of their kekkei genkai, but even their sense of humanity too. I just said that I'd join forces with you so that you can lower your guard down."

"Y-you bastard!"

"Thank your master Orochimaru for me, would you?" Naraku backed away and walked off, but not before the Root ANBU squad arrives. "Burn the corpse."

"As you wish, sir." the Root ANBU lit the corpse with a simple Fire jutsu as the Shimura heir stalked off. Once Kabuto's corpse was cleanly disposed off, they rejoined their de facto leader. "Naraku…"

"Just refer to me as captain. I am planning to reorganize Root into an efficient group with an autonomous streak. Now that Konoha will no longer welcome anyone with a connection to Root, I will have to lead them into a new land. Start the preparations for the invasion of Snow. Let us support the shinobi who hated the Daimyo in league with that Namikaze heir. No doubt that _she _will be a _thorn _to my side." Naraku disappeared along with the Root ANBU into the forests. "Don't forget to start planning for our invasions of other nations."

Naraku and his Root ANBU allies searched throughout the Fire Country for a suitable place they could call home. Unfortunately, the only thing they can find was a mountain cave that could serve as a temporary headquarters for their depleted units. Some of the Root ANBU shinobi started to clean up the mountain cave, setting up necessary tools needed to maintain a base while the de facto Root leader surveyed the mountains for food.

"Naraku, we've found a herd of deer and killed them." a Root ANBU shinobi reported. Naraku nodded and smiled.

"Very good. Divide it amongst the crew, and make sure everyone get some sleep. Our Root ANBU kunoichi comrades will be joining us sometime soon." Naraku ordered the Root ANBU and they complied with the order. He grabbed a small notebook and wrote down something.

A kunoichi approached Naraku a minute after the sun had gone down and sat beside him. "Naraku, do you have any relatives left?"

"Well, my grandfather is dead, and my father was killed in the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha. My mother, she is still around, but I don't talk to her much." Naraku admitted. Despite his brutal approach towards completing his missions, he was surprisingly soft spoken. "She detested the idea of me joining Root from the beginning."

"She must have had her reasons," she spoke back, but Naraku shook his head.

"My mother raised me when I was a child. I was always playing with the same kids on the block. As such, we were taught to stay away from that man. He is no considered a demon brat since he's technically no longer a child anymore, but Uzumaki's dangerous. So is the Uchiha heir, and he killed my grandfather Danzo," The Shimura heir continued to explain. "It wasn't until grandfather suggested that I join Root as soon as I was promoted to chunin that my mother began to distance herself from me."

"That's pretty bad, but like I said, she may have her own reasons."

"True." Naraku lay down on the ground and looked at the night sky. "Still, I dreamed of one day when she would accept me for what I am."

* * *

**WITH NARUTO**

Naruto is currently busy training by himself on one of the secluded training grounds. Now that he has mastered the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and the Rasengan, he intends to keep himself sharp in his skills, and if necessary, to start learning more jutsu in order to fight Naraku on an equal level. Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji and Neji showed up a while later as Naruto paused for a moment to allow the other boys to join in.

"You seem to be training hard, Naruto," Choji told Naruto as soon as they began to stretch. "I've got a lot of moves that I want to learn before I join you guys in order to fight that Naraku guy."

"Yeah, but he's dangerous to us all," Naruto replied back firmly. He showed everyone a slip of paper and explained. "Captain Yamato explained to me that I had to gather some chakra into the paper and see what my elemental affinity is."

Kiba tried to do what Naruto had instructed, but to no avail. "Man, this is gonna take a long time for me to figure out what my elemental affinity is."

"Why not restructure our group based on our fighting ability? From my point of view, Naruto's pretty much a flexible guy in terms of his combat skills. Judging by the way he fights, I'd say he's still the perfect guy to launch attacks," Shikamaru explained to everyone present. He turned to Naruto and grinned. "Although you're gonna need to learn how to cast and dispel genjutsu. You're still a dunce when it comes to genjutsu."

Naruto groaned. "Oh...I can't find anyone willing to teach me how to dispel and cast genjutsu."

"Well, there are some scrolls in the library for genjutsu attacks. Maybe Kiba could teach you on how to dispel them, and in return, you can actually tell us about your abnormally large stamina," Choji replied back hopefully. Naruto nodded and grinned, but Neji cut in to the conversation.

"Perhaps we ought to plan on how to counter Shimura Naraku when we fight him. I haven't fought him before, but I could tell that he's proficient in long range attacks." Neji explained. "What do you say, Shikamaru? We start training with Naruto, Kiba and Choji for our fight with Naraku."

"Yeah, that guy's troublesome." Shikamaru remembered the time when Naraku ignored Choji when they were in the academy. "Who would have thought he'd join Danzo's Root ANBU?"

Naruto blurted out promptly. "He knew he had to join; after all, Danzo's his grandfather."

"We know that part already." Kiba reminded the blond haired jinchuuriki. "The question is, why did the Hokage agreed to hold a truce against Sasuke? He defected from Konoha after all."

"Naraku is after both me and Sasuke. Naraku wanted to kill me simply because I am the Kyuubi's jailer, and he wanted to kill Sasuke because he killed Danzo. To him, killing me and Sasuke would be literally killing two birds with one stone. He could destroy both the Uchiha and Senju clans in one blow." Naruto answered back. They headed out of the training ground with Neji following them. "It seems that Naraku never liked anyone with a kekkei genkai when he was younger, and he still doesn't like anyone with a bloodline."

"Strange, since people with a kekkei genkai are admired here. Could he be related to a Kirigakure shinobi?" Neji wondered. "I mean, Kirigakure had the bloodline purges a long ago."

"He could have learned about that incident, but he's not stupid enough to launch a campaign of a bloodline purge in Konoha. Rather, he's just biding his time until the time is right." Naruto replied back before they separated and went back to their homes. "See you tomorrow then."

Once Naruto arrived at his house, he opened the scroll the elders gave him a while back. Studying and reading the prophecy once again, the blond struggled to decipher its meaning of it. Just as he is about to give up, there was a knock on the door. Naruto opened the door to reveal Kakashi outside. The one eyed jonin entered the house and sat down on the chair as Naruto gave him the scroll.

"What do you have here, Naruto?"

"Just some sort of riddle. I can't seem to decode this one, since it's not like the Pervy Sage's codes that involve numbers." Naruto admitted. He looked at the moonlit sky and yawned. "Maybe I'll solve this tomorrow."

"I see." Kakashi replied back. He looked at the riddle and frowned when he could not decipher what it meant. "We can do this tomorrow. Get some sleep, you'll need it when the Hokage summons you for a special meeting."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks." Kakashi left the house and Naruto simply fell on his bed, asleep.

* * *

**NEXT MORNING...**

"Wake up, Naruto! You have a meeting with the Hokage, so you better get your butt up or I'll have to drag you out." Naruto stirred up from his sleep and yawned. He slowly got up towards the door and found Sakura standing there.

"Sakura, thanks for reminding me. I haven't even had breakfast yet." Naruto yawned continuously until Sakura entered his house and waited. "OK, let's go."

Both former teammates walked along the streets of Konoha, or rather, the crater that once was Konoha, but it was now in the process of reconstruction. Villagers and foreign construction workers alike were at their daily tasks of rebuilding the village. Once Naruto and Sakura arrived at the Hokage's office, Tsunade and the elders were waiting for them. To his surprise, Naruto saw his friends that he talked to last night and waved back, except Neji, of course.

"Naruto, you should know by now that I have summoned you here for a special mission. Well, it is a mission of utmost importance since the Root ANBU are on the loose. The elders told me about how you have been denied your promotion to chunin because of external circumstances. Maybe it's long overdue, but as of now, I am promoting you to the rank of Chunin." Tsunade issued him a Chunin vest. "Congratulations, Naruto. Now, as for the mission, it will actually be Neji leading since he is a jonin. I'd say it's high time you smarten up and start taking your career as a shinobi seriously."

"As acknowledged," Naruto said before Sakura nudged him to say the honorific. "Lady Hokage."

"Good. Your mission will commence in a week, so you'll have to start training for this mission, both physically and mentally. Since Kakashi and Yamato are on a mission to help rebuild the village, you'll be training under Maito Gai. Kurenai's on a maternal leave, as you know, and I don't trust Anko to train you in case you might start your mission in bad shape." Tsunade dismissed Naruto and the rest of the other team.

Shikamaru grinned in satisfaction as he patted Naruto in the back. "Congratulations, Naruto. You've made it to Chunin, and after so long, you'll need a lot of luck if you ever want to become Hokage."

"Well, it is true that even if I was Chunin, I'd still obey orders from you and Neji. I'm pretty much the lowest rank here, even if I was Chunin since you've all been promoted way ahead of me," Naruto replied back. "Anyways, what did she mean I have to train myself mentally for this mission? Do I have to study or something?"

"Well, you can go read in the library and learn some jutsu. I could also teach you some strategy through shogi, but you'd be bored by now if you've played." Shikamaru suggested. Kiba and Akamaru raced up to join them a minute later. "In case you may face up against a Fire jutsu user, you'll have to learn how to use some Water jutsu. Who knows, maybe you can even combine Water and Wind to make Ice jutsu."

"Leave the Ice jutsu for the professionals." Naruto spoke back before another messenger ran through the streets and into the Hokage tower. "What's his rush?"

"Dunno," Choji told them. He spotted his house and stopped. "Do you guys want to come over for some barbeque?"

The other three chunins agreed, except for Neji, who was disinterested. He replied back in a polite tone. "I have to get going; my uncle is expecting me to come back home so I can spar with him."

"All right." Choji nodded as Neji went off in his own way. Once they entered the Akimichi barbeque house, Akimichi Choza waved at them to sit down. "Hey, Dad."

"Choji, I heard from the Hokage that Naruto's been promoted. About time, since he's been stronger than an average genin, and everyone in his age group is already a chunin." Choza noticed the Chunin vest on Naruto's chest. "I remember the time when your father was promoted to Chunin, he went over to this same place with us. He brought your mother along to celebrate."

Naruto nodded. "From what I've heard, my mom was a pretty tough woman. She told me about how she acquired the name 'Red Hot Blooded Habanero', and reminded me of Shikamaru and Kiba's moms."

"You have a mother who could have your dad whipped? That's a bummer." Kiba chuckled, but not before Choza dropped the bombshell.

"His dad is the Yondaime Hokage." Everyone gasped at the revelation Choza had just mentioned. "Of course, most of the older InoShikaCho trio knew your parents, Naruto. I remember the time when your mother used to get angry whenever someone called her a tomato. Lord Hyuga Hiashi made the mistake of calling her one, and he almost paid the price for it if it wasn't for Lord Hizashi."

"Wow...so Uzumaki Kushina's on the same level as my mom. Troublesome woman, I bet she's way worse than my mom," Shikamaru told Choza before the waiter brought in the food for the four friends. "Anyways, we've come here to discuss how we're supposed to track down the Root ANBU. The Hokage told me that Shimura Naraku has taken the spot as leader."

"Shimura Naraku? That punk who said that people with bloodlines shouldn't exist at all? It's weird, since an Aburame and a Yamanaka were part of Danzo's guards, and his grandson doesn't like them?" Choza frowned at the memory of the Shimura heir. Choji remembered the time when Naraku loudly taunted him for his weight, Shikamaru for his lazy demure, Kiba for having Akamaru around, and of course, Naruto because he holds the Kyuubi. "What made him go after you guys?"

"Well, Naraku wanted to kill Sasuke first because he killed Danzo," Naruto replied back, but Shikamaru and Choji gasped when a familiar redheaded girl with glasses entered the barbeque house. "What the! You're that girl who Sasuke nearly killed."

Karin was surprised to see Naruto in the same place as the same group who nearly succeeded in retrieving Sasuke. "Hello...what is your name again?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. Scratch that, Namikaze Naruto," Naruto reminded her, albeit with a tone that indicated that he was annoyed. "What's up?"

Karin joined them in the table a minute later and explained her situation. "After I was interrogated by your Intel corps, I was freed from my captivity, provided that I was escorted by someone with a rank of Chunin. Since the Chunin in question had already left, I learned later on that you are the one that will be my supervisor."

"I see. Perhaps you could shed some light on why you've chosen to ditch Sasuke," Kiba spoke as Karin nodded and promptly explained.

"I'm a sensor, so I can sense someone's chakra. Sasuke's chakra grew colder as soon as he met Madara. When I first saw Naruto, I sensed his chakra to be warm and bright, but also malicious because of the Kyuubi's chakra inside." Karin suddenly tensed up and sensed two presence approaching the restaurant. "I sense...two strangers. Where they came from, I don't know."

Karin and Naruto watched the sky as they waited for something to fall. Unknown to the Konoha shinobi present, the two strangers have already entered the restaurant and grabbed a table before turning their gaze towards the blond haired jinchuuriki. Regene and Hixar watched as Naruto interacted with Karin and the other Konoha shinobi while a waiter took their order and left.

"Do you think that's him?" Regene asked Hixar.

"I'm sure. Setsuna has requested for us to find those two seeds," Hixar answered back. "The ELS has already found one of the other seeds, and I'm sure the remaining seed can be found here. The ELS did make this place after all."

A minute later, Hinata entered the barbeque house just as the two Innovades were about to engorge themselves in their meals. Naruto looked up as she went over to their table and excused himself so that he could see her before he went back to enjoy some barbeque. Naruto wanted to know about the confession she made when she was fighting Pein in order to save him. Karin on the other hand, she stayed behind with Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Hinata...is it true?" Naruto asked her.

"Is what true?"

"That you loved me. Back then, when you were fighting Pein even though I told you to run," Naruto answered back, as he looked down on the ground. "I don't know what to say. I've had too many conflicts within myself, and I'm too distracted to give you an answer."

Hinata looked at him curiously. "Too distracted? What do you mean by that?"

"Hinata, I don't want you to get your hopes up when I respond to your words. It's just that I don't have the answers I need in order to tell you how I feel. I'm not even sure that if I fell in love with you, your father would approve. After all, he does have a big influence in the village." Naruto admitted back. He searched his pockets and gave her a three pronged kunai. "If it's possible, here's my gift to the Hyuga clan. My dad's prized kunai. Your dad should know what that kunai is, and how it works."

"Of course, this is the one that the Yondaime Hokage used when he fought over a thousand Iwagaure shinobi. Father would be surprised if he found out that you're entrusting his kunai to us." Hinata smiled and hugged him. "Take your time, Naruto. There's lots of time in the world…"

**BOOM!**

There were screams heard from all directions as the customers rushed out of the barbeque house. Naruto and Hinata gazed up in the sky and saw a meteorite smash itself just outside the village gate, and one metallic object smashed close to the gates as well. Sasuke arrived in Konoha, hoping to attack whoever was responsible, but found himself face to face with a metallic object that actually shifted into something else.

"Just what is that thing?" Shikamaru asked back. The metallic objects charged at Naruto, forcing the shadow user to grab him and ducked under. "Naruto, be careful!"

"Why do I get the feeling that those things aren't really normal?" Naruto asked back curiously. He threw a kunai laced with an explosive tag on it and activated it. The object exploded, but reshaped itself once it turned into liquid. "A metallic shape shifting object?"

It was then that Regene and Hixar made their appearance. "Not just any shapeshifting object, it's them."

"What is it then, and why did it crash itself into this village?" Shikamaru asked the two strangers. He noticed Naruto clutching his head and the Kyuubi's chakra going haywire. "Moreover, why is Naruto affected by those things?"

"Because they have found it, or rather, they have found _him_." Regene smirked, gazing his eyes on Naruto. The rest of the shinobi can only watched as Naruto grew weaker while the shape shifter approached him closer. "The second seed descended from Celestial Being's Gundam Meister, Setsuna F. Seiei."

* * *

OK, this is my first Shippuden Next rewrite, and this time I've included elements from Gundam 00. That would surely replace the existing Shippuden Next series. Tell me what you guys think of this one, and see if you guys liked this one or the originals. If you guys don't like it, I'll take it down, thinking that I made an effort to make a rewrite of the said series. Enough said, I am limiting to either three or four Naruto world characters that will become Gundam pilots. Sasuke could join Celestial Being to make sure that he and Naruto have a friendly fight, and to check up on Naraku's ambitions.

Anyways, the 00 counterpart to this one may be the Gundam 00PS: League of Victory fic, since I plan on conjoining that fic into this one, and to ensure that Naruto's lineage comes from Setsuna and Feldt. I don't want him to have the lineage from Marina Ismail, she's too old for Setsuna. Feldt on the other hand, may serve as a role model for any pairing that Naruto would be with. Most of you guys may want me to pair him with Lacus, but there's a catch on this pairing: Naruto may want to stay with the Earth Alliance and not defect. Especially if he wishes to protect and keep Badguirel alive.

As for the filler girls of this fic, Haruna would be replaced by Hotaru, and Utakata will make his appearance in this fic too. There will be GN based Gundams inspired by Nu and Hi Nu, as well as Wing Zero and Wing Zero OVA. Look up on the pairings in the beginning of this fic, and those pairings will be final.

**FINAL NOTE:** My new official Beta Reader for the entire Dimensional Innovation fic will be Sound of Wings. So you will notice some considerable changes made in this page.


	2. Burning Homeland

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam SEED or Gundam 00.

So it's another round of Dimensional Innovation.

* * *

_**Turn Two: Burning Homeland**_

**TWO YEARS AGO...**

**YUKIGAKURE NO SATO**

_In a castle located __in__ a snow covered country, a thirteen year old Shimura Naraku stood in front of a couple of Yuki shinobi dressed in a different outfit than the regular chakra armor the normal shinobi of that village __wore__. Their former leader only known as Fu __was__ busy talking to the leader of this strange group, who looked disgruntled at the way the present situation __was__ going on. His subordinates had always kept their faces covered with a mask, s__o__ as to avoid identification by their potential captives who have suffered at the hands of the previous regime._

_"Thanks to that little girl, our village is in ruins. Doto was the perfect man to have kept us strong__,__ and yet his pathetic niece __has__ purged some of the shinobi corps of those who'd sided with her uncle," the shinobi secret police leader told the Root ANBU. "What are we going to do now that the regular forces are thoroughly cleansed of shinobi who are loyal to the previous ruler?"_

_"Well, we can promise you aid. However, with our village facing its own problems due to the recent attack by Suna and Oto, we couldn't give you guys any help even if we made some promises." the Root squad leader answered back as he handed the secret police leader a scroll. "Here is a plan made by Danzo__-sama__ in case you want to start an uprising."_

_The shinobi secret police leader took the scroll, read its contents and dropped it in shock. "What you're suggesting is suicide!"_

_"Didn't you say that you wanted us to help?" Fu answered back, but the secret police leader, now called Yoshiro was __flabbergasted__._

_"Yes, but not when we're constantly __watched__ by agents loyal to Koyuki herself. As long as she watches our __every__ move, we're stuck in the mud without any solutions whatsoever," Yoshiro answered back. It was then that Naraku stepped in and drew a meteor on a piece of paper._

_"Do you know what this is?" he asked. No one understood what it meant. "This is a meteor that has fuelled a Fire Style user for centuries. Even the Uchiha clan knows about this meteor, for they have thrived on this very same rock to manifest their powers. The name of this meteor is Ryuujin Jakka, named after a legendary blade thought to have been lost in time. The meteor grants a Fire Jutsu user the energy of a hundred suns."_

_"We don't know what you're getting __at__." Yoshiro continued to doubt the wisdom of Naraku._

_Fu intervened and spoke instead. "Simple: the meteor will pass in two years. By the time it does pass, we shall launch an attack into this country, and at the same time you will orchestrate an uprising. Make sure that you distract the regular forces, or let them get distracted by us long enough to seize power. Kill any council member who dares to remain loyal to the current __d__aimyo and kill Koyuki herself. As long as she remains alive, she will be a focal point in the resistance."_

_Yoshiro grinned maliciously. "Now I'm beginning to understand what you mean by this."_

_"Do we have a deal?" Fu asked back. Yoshiro didn't need to think twice as he shook hands with the Root squad leader. Little did they know, one messenger who __had snuck__ past them had recorded every detail and sent it back to his __d__aimyo._

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

* * *

"There it is. The frozen island where that Kazahana woman reigns. By the time we're through, it will be as barren as Otogakure itself." Naraku stood in front of the bow while the Root ANBU stowed themselves inside the ship. Three hours before the meteor was set to pass through this planet, Naraku spotted another object heading towards Konoha and saw how its tail was burning. "Strange..."

"Cap[tain Naraku! We've got intruders!" another Root ANBU shinobi yelled out as a kunai laced with an explosive tag blew up a portion of the ship. Naraku and the remaining shinobi watched as Kumo's shinobi climbed aboard and began to engage them. "How the hell does Kumo know about what we're trying to do? Are they psychic or something?"

"No, but you're now labeled as a bunch of S-ranked missing nin by all five major shinobi villages," Omoi told them. He and the rest of Team Samui surrounded them and drew their swords. "I suggest that you all surrender."

"Don't even think about it, Omoi. We should exterminate these loose dogs before they deal some more damage." Karui swung the sword at Naraku, who blocked it. "As expected from the grandson of the former acting Hokage."

"Kumo bastards." Naraku hissed angrily. He continued to counter Karui's sword strike (over and) all over again until another Kumo shinobi jumped into the ship, surprising a few unsuspecting Root shinobi, who were promptly killed. He quickly made some hand signals and blew out a gust of flames from his lips. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu."

Samui and Omoi jumped away from the incoming flame, but due to the approaching meteor that will now pass through the atmosphere, the flame grew astonishingly bigger. Karui and a few Kumo shinobi then dodged another round of the enhanced flame, until the ship started to approach the frozen island of Snow. In the distance away from the burning ship, Sasuke and the remaining members of Taka watch the battle and decided to intervene.

"Now it's personal. Thanks to Karin's defection, we have to be extra careful about fighting Naraku," Sasuke told Juugo and Suigetsu. The latter snickered at the thought of Karin defecting, but Sasuke glared at him in annoyance. They grab their weapons and jump into the fray as well, just as the Kumo shinobi stood there and saw both ex-Konoha shinobi clash blades. "Shimura Naraku...you've gotta be even worse than that blond loser."

"Don't compare me to that trash, Uchiha punk." Naraku countered Sasuke's strike by pushing him back. Both combatants made some handsigns, and pulled out their shuriken and threw them at each other, but not before the Uchiha jumped to the top of the ship, forcing the Root leader to slice the pole holding the mast. "Foolish mortal."

Juugo and Suigetsu were surrounded by a few more Root ANBU shinobi that chose to appear just after some of their comrades had died. Sasuke hopped through the ruined ship in order to rejoin his two comrades in arms, who are too busy fighting the remaining shinobi to the death. Another fireship had rammed itself into the Root controlled ship, causing an explosion that rocked through the sea as Naraku and Sasuke were shook and another Root shinobi was thrown overboard.

Meanwhile, Team Samui was also shaken by the explosions caused by the fireship itself. Omoi and Karui had disarmed one Root ANBU and stabbed another in the chest before three more Root ANBU converged on Samui. Omoi kicked them aside, but one of them jumped right back up and flung him into the sea. Omoi jumped out of the water and placed his foot on the water with the chakra implanted on his feet. He raced through the kunai laced with explosive tags and blocked them, or in this case, swiped them aside as it created a chain of explosions under the water.

A few minutes later, a group of Yukigakure shinobi on board an unharmed warship loaded a cannonball into the cannon and fired it at the damaged warship. Naraku was forced to dive down for cover as his subordinates did the same, but Juugo was not so lucky. He had a splintered(of) wood imbedded in his arm and took it out, screaming in pain as the cursed seal took hold of him and changed his appearance. Naraku noticed the change and (prepared to thrust his katana into Juugo's stomach,)readied the katana into the stomach, only for Sasuke to grab him and fling him back to the sea. Unfortunately for the Uchiha, Naraku propelled himself back into the boat with a minor Wind Jutsu and slammed his katana into Sasuke's own katana.

Naraku kicked Sasuke aside and turned towards the Yukigakure shinobi who jumped aboard the damaged ship, firing off a Wind Jutsu towards them, knocking their feet off the ground as the Shimura heir stabbed them in the chest and beckoned for the remaining Root ANBU to start their attack, even as Sasuke was busy making a handsign in desperation and Suigetsu was trapped in the water.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

Ten Fire jutsu users exhaled the flames out of their mouths as one house was set on fire and the harbor starts to explode and its buildings are now burning. Sasuke's own Fire Jutsu had managed to interrupt their random destruction, only for Naraku to cast a huge gust of wind into Suigetsu, who is now swimming in the water and froze him and the water on the spot. The Shimura heir smashed the frozen water, and stabbed Suigetsu in the chest with a discarded blade mixed with disruptive chakra sensors. The Root continued their burning frenzy right into the towns as civilians were forced to flee for their lives and the regular samurai are cut down by the incoming Root ANBU armed with the volley gun captured from the Snow country warship.

"This isn't good." a samurai commander growled while his men retreated into the inland, away from the sea. They received a nasty surprise when a wall was erected out of nowhere and the shinobi secret police stood in front of them. "Get the hell out of our way, old man."

"No." Yoshiro replied back coldly and made some handsigns. "Ice style: Wolf fang jutsu!"

A figure of a snow wolf jumped out of the mountain, its frozen fangs bared at the intruders as it jumped into its victims, burying the samurai in the avalanche and possibly into their deaths. Yoshiro grinned maliciously and disappeared along with the rest of his subordinates.

Back in the harbor, Sasuke and Juugo went for cover as another fire broke out in the market, burning some of the unlucky civilians that weren't quick enough to leave. Juugo noticed a mother and child trapped beneath the rubble and rushed inside to retrieve them. Naraku killed another civilian as Sasuke threw a few more shuriken at the Shimura heir.

"A pity that the princess here isn't gonna see her little demon knight in rusting armor now, isn't it?" Naraku taunted Sasuke. He smirked, thinking that Sasuke would eventually run low on chakra and expects him to surrender. "You on the other hand, you're far worse than even Uzumaki. Your family was a traitor that who deserved to die."

"Don't...talk about my family that way." Sasuke activated the Sharingan and readied a ball of lightning on his hand. He ran towards Naraku and impaled the Chidori in him, only to have him transform into a log, indicating that he used a substitution jutsu. "You're a monster. You don't deserve to live."

Naraku appeared behind him. "I should be saying that to you."

In Konoha, Tsunade and Shizune are busy listening to the Yukigakure shinobi explain the current situation at hand while Naruto is brought into the office clutching his head. While he is busy clutching his and Kiba are helping him sit down on the sofa while Regene and Hixar are accompanied by regular ANBU. The Godaime Hokage turns towards the new visitors and groans in annoyance.

"How many times do you ever get into trouble, you annoying brat?" Tsunade asked tiredly, until she noticed his head in his hands. "Do you need something?"

"Naruto seems to be in pain. On top of that, we just brought in a boy who's covered in those liquid shape shifting things." Shikamaru pointed at a boy who was almost assimilated. Regene winced at the sight of the half-assimilated boy and made a mental note to tell Tieria about the situation in the ELS's home world. Shikamaru looked at the Yukigakure shinobi, who in turn, looked at Naruto. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah. We need Naruto's help." the Yuki shinobi told Shikamaru at once. "Listen, Koyuki-sama's in danger. The Root criminals are on their way to kill her."

Naruto tried to stand up, but didn't have the energy to do so. "What do you mean, in trouble?"

"The Root criminals are attacking and burning our village." the Yuki shinobi replied back. "We need your help right away."

"Can't you see that Naruto's suddenly gone sick? We even saw the Kyuubi's chakra gone haywire because of those weird slimy creatures, and you expect him to help you? Who the hell are you anyways?" Kiba snapped at the shinobi before Shikamaru held him back. "Even you should know that it's not only the daimyo who is in danger. Even the Uchiha is gonna die too."

"All the more reason why we need his help," the shinobi replied back. Naruto stood up weakly and panted.

"Alright, lead me to the princess," he commanded the Yuki shinobi as Tsunade closed her eyes and grabbed a scroll. She started to write as Shikamaru fed Naruto some food pills.

"OK. I also want you to lead the royal council out of the capital and onto a ship. Lead them into Konoha and make sure that the regular ANBU are assigned to protect Her Majesty," the shinobi told Naruto while Tsunade summoned Gai and his team. "From here on in, we'll track down that criminal and make him pay for what he's done."

"I got it. I'm gonna need a couple of weapons to take Naraku out," Naruto told Tsunade while she is wrapping the scroll around. "Looks like we've got a lot of work ahead of us."

Tsunade handed the scroll into the shinobi and turned to Gai. "Gai, I need you to lead your team into Snow Country and rescue the Princess and her council. Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji will come along with you."

Gai smiled and nodded. "Will do, Lady Hokage."

"So we're going to get the princess then. I wonder why she personally asked for Naruto to be there. It's not like she wants him to stay with her and-" Tenten began to speak, until she suddenly blushed and smacked her head. "Oh, you lucky bastard. Naruto, you have a way with the women, don't you?"

"Geez, Tenten must be jealous." Kiba observed. Neji nodded in agreement, to the surprise of the others. "Does she intend to have you to herself, Naruto?"

"I don't mean that!" Tenten blushed a bit deeper. "Neji-"

"It'll be similar to the mission in Demon Country," the Hyuga prodigy answered back and glared at the floor. "And I want to pay that Shimura punk for insulting the Hyuga clan with his insults."

"We all want to pay that asshole back, Neji. However, we have a task at hand." Shikamaru assured him as the Konoha team ran out of the village.

Gai and Lee continued to lead the rest of the pack while Neji scans the pathway with his Byakugan. There were no enemies on their way into Snow, but there were also no ships available for them to ride on, and Naruto couldn't summon the toads into the sea because it's salt water, and toads only thrive in fresh water. Shikamaru and Choji also looked for another boat to ride on as the Yukigakure shinobi summoned a whale and beckoned for them to climb inside the whale's mouth, much to Naruto's discomfort.

"Look, I'm not comfortable getting inside a whale's mouth, but suck it up." Tenten dragged the frightened Naruto into the whale's mouth and it dove beneath the water underneath. "Thanks for the ride. What's your name by the way?"

"I'm jonin Commander Katagiri. I represent Her Majesty's shinobi guard," the shinobi called Katagiri smirked as the whale continued its swim underneath. "This whale should get us into Snow within the half an hour. I suggest you guys get something warm to wear. Here, I've got these coats on."

He handed out the thick coats, scarves and beaver hats to every single Konoha shinobi available rather quickly. Neji and Lee wore the outfit, although Gai wasn't comfortable with the way everything was heavy on his body. Shikamaru and Kiba also dressed Akamaru with the proper outfit for the occasion as Choji had to adjust the winter clothing for his size, given the fact there wasn't any jackets that fit him.

"We're almost there," Katagiri told the Konoha shinobi present. It was only a matter of time until the whale stopped swimming across the sea. When the whale started to growl in anticipation, the Yukigakure shinobi grimaced. "We're here. Everyone, the only way up is through the whale's spout."

No one complained this time while the water started to flood around the whale's mouth. Naruto held on to the Yukigakure shinobi as the whale spouted the water out, catapulting everyone into the open air, only to gaze at the burning country while Katagiri made some handsigns.

"Water style: Water whale wall jutsu!" he yelled as the wave formed a wall and splashed into the coastline, dousing the flames that had been burning before they got into the island. Naruto and Kiba went in another direction, presumably towards where the capital was located. Shikamaru and Choji follow suit, with Gai's team trailing behind.

Naruto and Kiba continued their trek through the snowy forests until they reached a walled castle as the Root shinobi's flames crept closer towards the castle itself. Choji gasped as Naraku's attacks became worse while the meteor passed through the sky and turned towards Shikamaru and Kiba and pointed at the same sky where the meteor is. Naruto grimaced at the sight of sheer destruction around the capital until a dark haired woman in her battle armor burst out of the castle with Yoshiro and the shinobi secret police surrounding her. He grabbed a three pronged kunai, threw it at the wall and teleports there with Kiba and Shikamaru following him while Choji used his Spiky Meat Tank to clear out the surrounding turncoat shinobi.

"So that's the princess." Kiba pointed at the battle ready Koyuki. "What's up with that armor? It looks more like the one she wore in the movies-"

"No time to chat." Naruto and Shikamaru intervened and drew out their swords, or in this case, Naruto drew out two wakizashis and Shikamaru drew his old sensei Asuma's trench knives. "Sorry about our tardiness, milady. I was just-"

"If you've got the time to apologize, then you have time to kill these traitors off," Koyuki snapped back as she looked at who she was talking to. "Naruto, good to see you here."

"I sure wouldn't want to repeat what you've said to me." Naruto grinned before turning towards Yoshiro, who drew a katana from his waist. "So, you're the old man who's giving the princess some rough times."

"Uzumaki Naruto, isn't it?" Yoshiro asked stoically as he aimed it at Naruto's head. "We're going to avenge Kazahana Doto's death by killing you, and helping Naraku with his ambitions."

"Please, Naraku wouldn't want anyone else to kill me. He made it clear that he wants to kill both me and Sasuke personally." Naruto spat back nonchalantly as Sasuke and Juugo jumped into the fray. "Took your sweet time getting here."

"We're after Naraku, and you're after him too, Naruto. If I were you, I'd start thinking about getting the princess out of here." Sasuke answered back, but Koyuki drew out her own weapon and slammed it against Yoshiro's blade. "Talk about a feisty woman."

"Feisty, you mean dangerous." Naruto kicked the nearest turncoat shinobi in the side before jumping out of the way to see the flames approaching the castle itself. He gathered some chakra on his palm and threw it towards the Root shinobi. Luckily, they managed to dodge the Rasengan, but it served as a deterrent. Now that the formation was thrown off, Naraku and the rest of the surviving Root shinobi charge through out the snow, heading towards Naruto and Sasuke. Naraku also noticed Sasuke's eyes had changed from his usual Sharingan to a set of three tomoes on top of the rings.

"I was going to frame you for the attack on Snow, allowing me to get on the princess' side. Then again, she did see me at the scene of the crime. I guess I have no choice. I must kill you myself," Naraku told Naruto coldly as both shinobi charged towards each other, swords drawn. "Tell me, Uzumaki. How does it feel to be the hunted criminal, forced from one hiding spot to another?"

"Why should I know?" Naruto spat back, swiping Naraku's blade aside.

"Because you should have been the hunted criminal chased out of Konoha. Instead, it's me that is forced out, and it's all your fault. You and that Uchiha punk will pay...because my grandfather's legacy is shattered like a mirror." Naraku answered back furiously. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Five Narakus appeared beside him. "You're not the only one with the ability to make clones."

"The same to you." Naruto made his own clones as well. Both Naruto and Naraku clones threw their kunai at each other, dispelling both sides' clones, creating a smokescreen. Naruto spotted Naraku coming out of the smokescreen, sword raised above his head. "Naraku, you out of all people should know that your grandfather implanted some Sharingan eyes into his arms."

"He did it so he can control you. Once it was clear that you would not bow down to him, you had to die. Unfortunately, you're harder to kill because you were trained properly." Naraku said as he grimaced at the sight of his enemies. He suddenly tensed up as Sasuke swung his own sword closer to his throat. "That won't work on me."

"What the? Ahh!" Sasuke was thrown aside. At the same time, Shikamaru and Choji were helping Gai's team escort the council members out of the palace while Koyuki stabbed one turncoat shinobi with her own weapon. "Naruto, I'll leave that punk to you. I've gotta-"

"Going somewhere, Uchiha?" Naraku called out as he threw a kunai tied to a smoke bomb. "You're not going anywhere until I kill the both of you. It's only a matter of who gets to die first. I'll start with you, then Uzumaki."

"Oh yeah, because that prune who defiled the Uchiha tombs fought me. Face it, you're just as evil as him. If I must, I too will become evil in order to defeat you." Sasuke transformed his eyes into the Mangekyo Sharingan mode and blasted some black flames around. "How do you like Amaterasu? Even your jutsu won't quench the black flames."

Naraku gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing that the Uchiha was right regarding the Amaterasu. He closed his eyes and focused on what strategy he would use against him, but Naruto distracted him by throwing the three pronged kunai closer to the ground and teleported right into his location. Naraku jumped out of the way to see Naruto armed with the same kunai his father used during the last Shinobi World War. He countered his kunai with his own and batted it aside.

Once Naraku was occupied with fighting both Naruto and Sasuke, the rest of the Root shinobi reinforced the turncoat Yuki shinobi with their strength as Shikamaru and Choji fended them off. Kiba was busy pummeling another shinobi into the ground with Juugo running towards where Naraku was, hoping to help Sasuke defeat him and avenge Suigetsu's death, but the Shimura heir stabbed him with his weapon, right in the chest.

"Juugo..." Sasuke whispered silently while Juugo slumped down into the ground, blood seeping out and soaking into the snow. He closed his eyes and said a little prayer before charging his sword with lightning. "I don't know why you did it, but even if they weren't really my friends, I'll avenge them."

"Hmph. I have no intention to let you escape from this land...alive." Naraku smirked as he teleported closer to where Koyuki is and attempts to stab her in the back, but Naruto ran right into the princess and takes the stab in his gut. "Not what I intended, but all the same."

"You won't win here." Naruto spat back, but disappeared as a log replaced his figure.

"Tch. I'm growing tired of these charades." Naraku retrieved his sword and sheathed it. He turned towards the surviving shinobi and (retreated)retreats while Koyuki (went)tends to where Naruto and Kiba were.

"Are you all right?" she asked Naruto. She hugged him as soon as he looked at her. She then turned towards the rest of the surviving non-Root shinobi and issued out orders. "All right, I want you guys to head into the castle and rest. No doubt that we'll have to flee this country once again. This time though, we won't be alone."

"Yeah, but we've got more important matters at hand," Kiba said as the ground shook once again. Only this time, it wasn't the meteor that did it. Rather, it was the same type of metallic shape shifter that had crashed into Konoha. "Look. A boy's been hit."

Naruto quickly moved towards the boy and grabbed him even with Shikamaru's warnings. "Naruto, don't touch him!"

"Stupid idiot." Sasuke growled, but they stopped as Naruto froze after he touched the boy's metallic infection.

"What's this feeling? What am I feeling right now? I can't believe I touched that thing even when I knew it hurts me more." Naruto gritted his teeth in pain. He screamed in agony while an unknown phenomenon managed to infiltrate his mind, showing him images of an unknown battle over two thousand years ago. "What are these visions? I don't understand them. What do they mean?"

_"It's because of you, Krugis is destroyed!"_

_"Of course it was!"_

_"What the hell are you doing here? Tell me, where is your God now!"_

_"I don't have to answer you, you know."_

Naruto's vision changed to a scene of a palace with people running away as a giant robot with a cannon fired a shell into the weird looking robot. What was even more interesting was that the boy inside the pilot didn't care even if he was hurt. He couldn't hear what the boy talked about to a woman, who he must have deduced was the country's princess. Another vision showed him the part where the boy was fighting against a golden robot.

_"I'm still following the plan. The only difference is that I've taken the lead as the star actor. Oh yes, the world belongs to me. Alejandro Corner!"_

_"What do you want from this?"_

_"Destruction and rebirth. Celestial Being's armed intervention has destroyed the world. And now, I will rebuild it in my image!"_

_"You want to rule the world that badly?"_

_"I want to guide it properly..."_

Another vision showed Naruto oftwo robots standing with each other. One of the robots had a sword pointed at the throat of the other robot as an older man stood in front of a younger man. Naruto couldn't tell what the older man was up to, but by the way he acted, he clearly wanted to fight the boy badly. A samurai mask was absent, revealing his charred eye.

_"It's been four years, young man. If you don't want to lose this Gundam, you'll give me what I desire."_

_"And what would that be?"_

_"I want an honorable duel. I, Graham Aker, hereby challenge you to an honorable duel. Here and now."_

_"You're that desperate to settle things between us?"_

_"Of course. My skies are polluted with your Gundam. You've even taken my brother and mentor. Even my pride as a Flag Fighter is shattered by what you've done. Indeed, these feelings have transcended love and hate, and it now becomes destiny. Don't forget that the Gundams were the ones who started the armed intervention."_

_"Here is someone else who's twisted by us."_

_"This is the path that I wish to travel. A path of bloodshed."_

_"Now I know why he created the GN Drives. The armed interventions were just a step for this."_

_"What do you mean, young man?"_

_"I must reform myself in order to change this world."_

_"That young man told me I'm distorted. Yet he can also do nothing but fight __also__. The one thing I desire...is ultimate victory!"_

_"Is that all you desire, victory?"_

_"What else is there? Besides my code of bushido!"_

_"It's obvious! The fight to change the future!"_

_"I'd like to change the world where Super Soldiers like Soma Peries and myself are never made."_

More flashes went by before Naruto's eyes, who was unsure of what they meant, or how they affected him. It seemed that even if he didn't understand the visions had shown him, there would be a time when he would be able to connect everything together. As soon as the visions have ceased, he passed out on the floor When did he get moved to a room?. Kiba and Choji picked him up and laid him back down on the bed with Koyuki and Shikamaru watching him in case he woke up.

"What do you think happened to him?" Koyuki asked the shadow user.

"I don't know, but it also happened back in Konoha. The Kyuubi's chakra went haywire, and he suffered a mild headache. From my observations, it seems something or someone's probably targeting Naruto. Why would they target him if they don't want to kill him in the first place?" Shikamaru wondered back.

* * *

**KONOHAGAKURE NO SATO**

**ANBU INTEL CORPS HEADQUARTERS**

* * *

Inside an ANBU intel headquarters, Regene and Hixar sat down in separate rooms while the interrogation personnel were busy trying to extract answers out of the two strangers. Ibiki couldn't understand what the two strangers were up to, or even if they are from this world at all. Their strange color of hair and the way they dressed seemed seems to be too outlandish for even a distant traveler. The rest of the intel corps weren't even sure if they could also use physical torture against them, since Ibiki wanted to extract answers with his usual method of mental torture.

"I'm asking you once again. Who are you and what are you doing here in our village? We're in a middle of a war here and we can't allow any stranger to wander around this village unescorted," Ibiki began to speak. "You can either tell me what your motives are and I'll send you and your freaky looking friend into a nice cell, or you don't answer my question and I'll make sure that you both get punished."

Hixar closed his eyes and smiled nonchalantly. "It's like I told you. We're looking for one of the seeds from Celestial Being's Gundam Meister. The descendant of humanity's first Innovator."

"Bollocks! How the hell should we know?" Ibiki answered back. "For all we know, you could be working for the Akatsuki, or even Shimura Naraku's group!"

"Shimura Naraku, you say? It seems that he fits the bill in that prophecy," Hixar told Ibiki. When the intel corps started to tense up, the Eye of VEDA grinned and continued to explain, even as his eye was glowing. "Geez, what do you want, Tieria?"

"I'll take over your mind for a sec. Then I'll do the same with Regene Regetta's mind. There is no doubt that one of the seeds must live here." Tieria took over Hixar's mind and spoke instead of the real Innovade. "You see, I was the one who told Hixar Fermi and Regene Regetta to look for the descendant of Setsuna F. Seiei, humanity's first Innovator. I didn't know who that seed was, until another clue was given to me. One of the seeds must be related to the founder of the shinobi world, or the world where the Extraterrestrial Living Shape Shifters, or ELS, lives. The way the ELS can tell if they found the seed is by how he reacts. If he has a mild headache, then it can be assumed that he could also inherit some ability to detect Quantum Brainwaves. We had a golden age of peace in our world for two thousand years, until another conflict broke out because humanity made a fatal mistake of creating the world's first coordinator."

"Tell me more. I'm interested to hear what you have to say." Ibiki grinned.

"If you can examine the body of a half-assimilated human, then you should have a clue where they came from and what you're dealing with here. If you want to know about the prophecy, ask the mentor of that seed, and look for a piece of paper that has the prophecy written. That man should have gotten it from the two elders. If you don't believe me, ask your leader." Tieria/Hixar answered back.

"Get the Hokage."

Tsunade and Shizune appeared a few minutes later with Ibiki leading them back into the interrogation room. They stared at the Innovade with the glowing eyes and began to speak to them while the rest of the intel corps waited until Ibiki was done so they could start interrogating Regene next.

"So you've requested my appearance here. What is the prophecy you've spoken about? Ibiki's filling me in the details." Tsunade replied back as Tieria/Hixar nodded.

"You know about the human anatomy, correct? Then you should have no trouble performing a test on the half-assimilated human body. As for the prophecy, it was handed to a boy earlier on." Tieria/Hixar answered back. Shizune's eyes widened as she turned to her mentor.

"I remember Homura-sama giving Naruto a scroll like that."

"Bring that scroll here." Tsunade ordered. Shizune disappeared with a poof and reappeared ten minutes later with the scroll obtained from Naruto's apartment. "Here's what you're looking for."

_Two seeds, brought forth from Humanity's Liaison through the union with the Matriarch of Eternal Peace that we treasure, shall sprout from the ground of conflict. One seed shall sprout to become the inspiration of the world while the other seed shall become the knight who will help the other seed to destroy the distortions of the world, and must prevent humanity from destroying itself or a great tribulation shall come to reap retribution upon us all._

Once Tieria/Hixar heard the prophecy, he smiled and explained the full contents. "Two seeds, both can be found in two separate worlds. When Setsuna had a child with Feldt Grace, she bore twin boys. He took one of them with him to the ELS's world along with me. As soon as he returned to Earth, he visited the other child with his mother and Marina Ismail as well. Once Setsuna made his final visit, he stayed in the ELS's world. It can be assumed that he's Is this he the child or Setsuna? immortal, given the fact that his body was restructured with ELS organs. Though I'm not too sure about that organism as well."

"So, you're assuming that Naruto's one of the two seeds then," Tsunade asked back.

"He is. Why do you think he was affected the most when normal humans wouldn't suffer headaches in their presence? Another prophecy was told of the Child of Destiny, and it has to be him. The other seed stayed on Earth until his descendants moved into the set of colonies known to them as the PLANTs. He will eventually join the military because his mother will die in a tragic attack. VEDA has predicted that will happen." Tieria/Hixar answered continuously. "It's also known that the seed that was found first will eventually seek us for answers on how to make a peaceful world."

"Assuming that you found Naruto, what do you intend to do with him?" Shizune asked suddenly.

Tieria/Hixar smirked and spoke. "Recruit him into Celestial Being and he'll help us stop the war from spreading. We'll perform armed interventions in order to end wars."

"That would mean you'll have to intervene here, because we have a war of our own," Ibiki told the Innovade.

"True, but I'm not sure if this world is ready to face a giant robot that can wipe a village out in a blink of an eye." Tieria returned Hixar's mind control back to its owner. Hixar grinned and talked again in his normal voice. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Satisfied...you mean, glad to sort things out here?" Tsunade told the Innovade. "Make sure that they don't get hurt before Naruto returns. They have a lot to explain to that knucklehead."

* * *

**SNOW COUNTRY CAPITAL**

**

* * *

**

"Naruto, wake up. C'mon, you troublesome man. Wake the hell up." Shikamaru drawled to Naruto as he continued to sleep. "It's no use."

"Of course it's no use. He will wake up when the time is right," Kiba answered back. The Konoha shinobi and Koyuki watched over their blond haired friend, who was moved to the royal bed from the floor as a result of the encounter with the half-assimilated boy. Koyuki herself sat down on her bed and gently stroked Naruto's hair and smiled. Choji brought over some warm water in a bucket and laid the warm towel on his head. "Choji, you're doing a great job there."

"Thanks. Now I know what it feels like to be a medic nin." Choji joked as the others laughed lightly.

"So why did Naruto freeze like that? It's not like he has an allergy to a metallic shape shifting figure or something," Kiba replied back.

Shikamaru gasped and clapped his hands together. "Remember the time when those two weirdos came to Konoha?"

Every single Konoha shinobi nodded, the image of Hixar and Regene still fresh on their minds as Shikamaru continued to explain. "They said, and I quote, _'They have found it, or rather, they have found him. The second seed descended from Celestial Being's Gundam Meister, Setsuna F. Seiei.'_ I don't know what this Celestial whatever is called, or who this Seiei Setsuna guy is."

"We'll ask Naruto when he gets up," Choji replied back. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Once the Konoha shinobi left the royal bedroom, Koyuki lay down close to Naruto, but she was careful not to get too close to him. She grabbed a pen and paper and began to write something down. Her guards were posted at the doors to make sure that she didn't get hurt while Naruto remained unconscious. Deep inside Naruto's mind, another figure walked towards him as he looked at the sewers, familiar with where he is going.

**"I can't believe my own chakra acted so oddly,"**the Kyuubi told its jailer.**"To think that you had ****the**** control of my chakra, and yet you can't control it at all. So much for that training with that Hachibi container."**

_**"C'mon! It's not his fault that the ELS has affected him more than **__**any other human does**__**.**__**"**_another voice called out. The Kyuubi and the subconscious Naruto turned to see another reflection of Naruto. Only this time, his eyes are different. One of them shone blue as a sapphire, and the other was red as a ruby._**"So now I get to meet my normal self. It's not like you need me or **__**anything.**__**"**_

"Look, I just want to wake up from this ordeal, OK? Tell me, why am I affected by those weirdos in metallic slime?" the subconscious Naruto asked his darker self.

_**"Maybe you're too new to this adventure, but I can tell that you're gonna have another voice talking to you. They call me the yami, and you the hikari. Together, we're aibous. Don't worry about it. You may be the descendant of Setsuna F. Seiei-"**_

"I don't know who that guy is," hikari Naruto protested.

_**"So you don't know why you had the visions of what happened two thousand years ago**__**?**__** Well, here's another vision that oughta interest you." **_The yami half grinned as a vision from the past flashed before their eyes. This time, a giant building was shown with a reflection of another man talking to himself.

_"Stop thinking about things you can't change!"_

_"But their lives will be at their misery."_

_"Misery, you say? That girl in that Super Soldier Tieren doesn't think she's miserable. That's not the case, is it? Don't push your opinions on others, no matter how sweet it is, your kindness is hypocrisy."_

_"But they're alive."_

_"They're not human anymore! One day they will find us and kill us. Show the enemy __no __mercy, but you do have an option. I could take over again..."_

_"I only fight for my own survival! You came here to kill, didn't you? You're killing people because it's your job? Pull the trigger with your own emotions. Do it yourself."_

_**"Even with your experiences that mirror**__**s **__**that of others, your motivation is only an illusion. You could try changing other people's lives for the better, but don't push it down their throats. You'll just make them resist to change even more**__**,**__**" **_the _yami _version of Naruto told his hikari self. _**"I can tell **__**that**__** when you wake up, you'll have a lot of questions to ask. While you're at it, you can hug and comfort the princess that nearly died because of that punk Naraku."**_

"When do I wake up then?" hikari Naruto asked back.

_**"About...now." **_The yami version kicked his hikari half out of the sewers as Naruto opened his eyes and gasped suddenly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked himself as he looked down at the bed. He spotted the Snow princess and looked around. "Where am I?"

"You passed out, dummy. Now you're in my bed." Koyuki grinned as she kissed him in the forehead. "How are you, you loveable knucklehead?"

"Fine. It feels like I've watched some creepy movie about a vision that I don't understand. The last time I was conscious, I was fighting Naraku. Now I'm here in bed with a beautiful woman who I've considered my own sister. Is there something that could be better than this?" Naruto asked her. She frowned and placed her arms around him. "I need to know."

"Know what exactly?" Koyuki asked curiously.

"I need to know who is this Setsuna F. Seiei guy is, and why I felt like I was talking to my darker half just now. It's like whenever I am in danger, that old fox appears before me, but this time, my darker half looked like he's bipolar or something," Naruto replied back as he looked at her. "And I'm going to find out why those metallic freaks are giving me a migraine."

* * *

Well, you should guess the references I've put in this chapter. Now I've gotten some reviews and here's how I'll respond to them:

BlackWingGundam:_It seems my suggestion of the Naruto/Lacus pairing is gradually sinking into the minds of various authors. This pairing will not fail. It has far too much potential to fail. Lacus and Naruto are like Yin and Yang. Yin for Lacus' purity and kindness also the same for her good childhood while the Yang for Naruto considering his dark and terrible past. Also, Lacus would easily be able to shatter Naruto's emotional mask and bring out his true self. This pairing can go far, very far it's just nobody can seem to write it that well. Prove me wrong and make the pairing known. The Naruto/Lacus pairing never should of been ignored. Kira and Lacus are too much alike while if Lacus was paired with Naruto, he would be able to make her dreams of peace a reality. Do not let this pairing die off, I've lectured the other writer who done a Naruto/Lacus pairing and it's gradually being worked on. If you want to feel content then make it a NarutoxHarem pairing so the pairings you have in mind along with the NarutoxLacus pairing is produced. Such a good pairing should never go to waste but it is entirely your choice. I'll be watching and waiting for the next chapters of the story. I urge you however to keep the Naruto/Lacus pairing alive. People just don't see the value in that pairing because they can't write it for dimes. Before you ask, yes I am very passionate about the Naruto/Lacus pairing because I believe they will go very well together. On I suggest the pictures Shinobi and Robots as well as Naruto's Pink Haired Angels._

Answer: NarutoxLacus pairing is indeed my first time doing it. It's more like SetsunaxFeldt, only now in this fic he'll have Allelujah's personality. It also fits, since Naruto saw his darker half in the manga.

DanteSparda894:_It's a good start i hope you continue it for shipuden next series if you want to replace it you can do it... and thanks taking my consideration of the narutoXlacus pairing hope it works in the future..._

Answer: It will work, but new ideas must be sent in order for this to work. Readers like you are a valuable to the fanfiction community.

Vandenbz:_Interesting start to this fic. Naruto being a descendant of Setsuna is a nice surprise. I can only imagine what will happen when Fon shows up later. I wonder who that other seed is. Please update!_

Answer: You'll find out who. Fon showing up, yes he will. Just as another mischievious, prankster who actually goes inside the Gundam. I'll even give out the story of how he ends up in the SEED world from the Movie Arc of Gundam 00 the Movie.

Nero the Black:_Hmm not bad at all, excelent. You found a perfect way to successfully blend Gundam 00 and Gundam seed while combining it with Naruto. I hope personally that Naruto stays with Lacus._

Answer: Excellent, yes. Easy to do, I'm afraid not. Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED should be a few thousand years apart since the SEED franchise has a reference to the AD timeline. Shame that Fukuda had to make SEED before Mizushima directed 00. If I were Tomino and I wanted a UC rehash, I'd ask Mizushima to direct both SEED and SEED Destiny. Or if I grew sick and tired of Kishimoto blundering the Naruto franchise, I could be like, 'I want Mitsuo Fukuda to take over this joint!'

On another news, Hetalia Diaries will be updated soon. Just gotta figure out how many more countries that are debuted. The Trembling Trio, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Japan. Sealand, I could do it, but that may or may not happen. Canada, I've gotta do his entries since he should get some action too. America, have I done that yet? Yes, I have.

So, good luck for you readers and see you next week, or the next update. Whatever works for you both.


	3. Deal With the Pirate

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Gundam SEED or even Gundam 00.

* * *

_**Turn Three: Deal with the Pirate**_

Inside the VEDA chamber on the other side of the dimension, Tieria Erde received a report from Hixar regarding the identity about one of Setsuna's descendants. He was surprised to hear that the seed was a shinobi, and not just any shinobi, a jinchuuriki as well. Lacking the knowledge of the shinobi world, Tieria ordered Hixar through mind communication to stay in the Elemental Nations until the boy returned, and to convince him to join Celestial Being. Regene also received the message as well, although he wasn't happy about being away from the VEDA chamber, but the custodian of the supercomputer assured his twin that they would benefit more from staying in the other world. Once Tieria was done talking to the other two Innovades, he went over to the last chamber where a boy was sleeping in his cryogenic condition. He pressed some buttons and woke him up from his long sleep.

"Ugh...what the hell is the big idea, waking me up like_this_?" Fon Spaak groaned. He turned to Tieria and yawned sleepily. "So, do you want me to go on a mission or something?"

"Something along those lines, yes. However, you_will_be using a regular mobile suit to survey the airspace. Recently, Celestial Being has managed to acquire the first mobile suit made in space that wasn't a part of the Federation Army." Tieria showed Fon the image of a newly constructed ZGMF-1017 GINN. "This mobile suit looks heavier than the CB Guard Flag, but it's a bit faster than a Tieren. You will be going into the neutral colony called Heliopolis and you will stay there until it gets attacked."

Fon whistled at the image of the mobile suit, but frowned. "Are you sure? 'Cuz that machine could belong to the space colony military themselves, and entering a neutral colony with that suit wouldn't bode too well with the other military personnel."

"Well, this is where our connections with the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty comes in to play. You'll act as a go-between to the ZAFT military and give them the info on what the new Earth Alliance is doing. Should they succeed in building their own mobile suits, it will get only worse once they mass produce them." Tieria warned Fon. "Are you in?"

"Of course. Seeing as Fereshte is pretty much non-existent as of this day, I'm in." Fon stepped out of the cryogenic bed and stretched himself. "Anyways, where's Fermi?"

"He and Regene Regetta are in the ELS' homeworld, searching for one of Setsuna's descendants." Tieria answered back. He continued to lead Fon into the hangar where the new GINN was displayed. It was unsure of how the GINN was acquired, though it may suggest that it was either stolen from a ZAFT soldier or it was sent here by a defecting soldier. "Inside the neutral colony of Heliopolis, lies a company that specifically devotes itself to building prototype mobile suits. Find out what that company is and report it to me. We may have to capture the mobile suits ourselves."

Once Fon suited up in his old flight gear from two thousand years ago, he climbed aboard the GINN and began to activate its controls. He launched out of the VEDA chamber, which was located deep inside the CBS Celestial Being and took off in the direction of the neutral colony ahead. When Fon moved closer to Heliopolis, a couple of Mistrals moved to intercept him, but he didn't want to cause a mayhem yet.

"Attention, ZAFT soldier. You are entering the neutral territory of the Orb Union's space colony, Heliopolis. Leave this airspace now." the Earth Forces soldier told Fon.

"Uh...I'm not a ZAFT soldier, even though I'm boarding this unit. I'm just a mercenary myself." Fon answered back.

The officer was shocked. "A mercenary? Like I'll believe you."

"I'm not a coordinator, yet I can move as fast as those guys since I've got the training. Just let me inside the colony and I will deal with the rest." Fon told the officer. His superiors nodded and the officer replied back.

"You can come in, but no funny business."

"I'm not here for some funny business. I'm here to wait until my next job comes in." Fon replied back once the GINN was safely escorted into the colony. The Earth Forces personnel were surprised to see that the GINN wasn't painted in their usual ZAFT colors, but dark blue as in the colors of the old ESF army.

* * *

**KONOHAGAKURE NO SATO**

**THREE DAYS LATER**

**

* * *

**

A group of jonins arrived in Konoha while escorting some of the royal council members from the Snow country capital, led by Kakashi and Yamato. Even though they were still not fit enough to go on any S-rank mission, they were fit enough to escort a couple of important figures into the village in order to gain safe haven. Koyuki followed suit a few hours later with Gai's team following her since Naruto was strong enough to walk, even though his headache still wasn't cured. By the time Naruto and his friends had arrived inside the Hokage tower, Tsunade and Shizune were waiting for the other two guests who were supposed to come inside.

"I take it that you've have that headache again." Tsunade asked her surrogate son. "I'm not sure about what really happened, but I know for certain that-"

"We have the explanation for whatever caused it." Regene interrupted the Hokage as he and Hixar entered the room. They turned to Naruto and observed him. "This boy...is he supposed to be descended from Setsuna?"

"All right, could you tell me about this Setsuna person, and this organization you've spoken of? What are they?" the Godaime demanded. Hixar took the time to explain.

"Celestial Being is a group of paramilitary personnel who take part in armed interventions across our world. Our goal is to end all wars with the robotic mobile weapons called_Gundams_. We had a good amount of peace for two thousand years, until another conflict broke out, just before the dawn of the Cosmic Era." he told the Hokage. "You could say that it's like a bunch of mercenaries who intervene _arbitrarily_to target and destroy any party_guilty_of promoting conflict."

"Setsuna F. Seiei became humanity's first Innovator. He was one of the four Gundam Meisters, or pilot as the normal human would call it. He also played a pivotal role in stopping the very same aliens that had(have) now invaded this world from destroying Earth. He went to the ELS' world to understand more about their cultures and even had his own body modified with the alien's organisms. We're here to look for his descendants because he had children with another Celestial Being member(.), whichonly(Only) Tieria Erde knows the name of that girl.(,)" Regene continued on. They kept on looking at Naruto and grinned. "Since he suffered a headache when the ELS came closer to him, we can deduce that they found him at last."

Naruto looked at the two strangers in shock. "So the headaches that I'm getting, I can't get rid of them at all?"

"That headache you have, it indicates that you will start developing a sixth sense, or a sense of reading emotions and feelings." Hixar answered back. "I assume that you had some visions of the past when your skin made contact with the infected person, is that right?"

"Yeah...I saw the vision of a boy fighting a red haired bearded man, a golden robot and a guy who's obsessed with anything samurai," Naruto answered in a curious tone. "What do you intend to do with me now that I'm here in front of you two weirdos?"

"Naruto, manners!" Tsunade warned him, but Regene held up his hand.

"The term _weirdo _to us is correct. You see, we're not really regular humans at all, but Innovades. A group of fake humans who were created to help genuine humans to become Innovators. We don't get sick at all, and we certainly have enhanced memories. The only drawback to this is that every ten years, the supercomputer called VEDA recalls us. In a way, we also function as a computer terminal that always recycles itself." Regene told Naruto. "As for what we intend to do with you, we want you to join us."

"Join you?"

"We can sense your heart, Naruto. You have a lot of questions that will be answered, such as will there ever be a world where no conflict would be promoted? Pain. Suffering. Sadness. Grief. Those emotions are born as a result of countless wars that are waged. You fought against the deity that represented such distortions, am I right?" Regene replied back. He turned back to the Hokage and asked. "Could you lead us into the morgue where the half-assimilated human is located?"

"Of course, but be careful." Shizune took the group into the morgue from the Hokage tower where the medical corps were busy studying the metallic shape shifter in their microscope.

Naruto began to clutch his head again as Regene winced at the sudden pain in his head. Shikamaru and Kiba noticed Hixar cringing at the presence of the half-assimilated boy and Shizune showed them the progress they've made.

"Something about these things are affecting those two over there. So it's not only Naruto that's affected by it," Kiba observed the two Innovades' reaction.

Shikamaru's eyes widened at Kiba's observation. "They said that they're not regular humans, but beings that are designed to help humans reach this Innovation level. Those metallic things must be interfering with whatever waves they're feeling. Kinda like a static on a radio."

"Radio waves, right?" Kiba answered back. "If that's the case, then we should get away from here."

Shikamaru nodded and exited from the morgue with Kiba following him. Once Shizune finished explaining to the two Innovades about the nature of the ELS' effect on the young human who was nearly assimilated, Hixar and Regene went out of the morgue to get some air into themselves and followed Naruto into the Hokage's tower, where Tsunade would be briefing him on a mission he was to perform.

"Recently, Naraku's troops had secured Snow with the help of the infamous Yoshiro of the secret police which operates inside Yukigakure. Right now, he may be planning on attacking one of the five major shinobi villages, though I can't say which one. Since you've got more experience fighting Naraku, I want you to head towards Otogakure with the team you will assemble here. Although it appears that you may already have assembled the men you need." Tsunade pointed at Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji. "You will be the leader of this group for now, and think of this as your first test as a leader."

"OK, Hokage-sama." Naruto nodded and left the office along with Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji.

* * *

**WITH NARAKU**

* * *

Naraku and his remaining Root ANBU shinobi had just come back from a recent counter-insurgency operation that resulted in an entire village razed to the ground. Some of his own subordinates were suffering from their injuries. Realizing that the Root ANBU is(were) dwindling down in numbers at an alarming rate, Naraku decided to ensure that his own shinobi are alive and well taken care of.

"Captain Naraku," the kunoichi called out to him. Naraku turned around and saw her. "We only have around a hundred Root ANBU left. At this rate, we won't survive our next invasion."

"Yes, but we are now reinforced by Yukigakure shinobi who didn't go along with the daimyo. Even then, that's only forty percent of the original Yukigakure shinobi rosters who decided to fight for our cause. Despite that, we still have the support of Yoshiro and his secret police." Naraku told her. Once the rest of the Root shinobi lay down in their hospital beds, he got up and visited them. "Good job, men. Even though we're losing a lot more shinobi, we can still win this war."

"Yet we're only a guerrilla army. How can we actually expect to attract more shinobi of our caliber?" one wounded Root shinobi asked.

Naraku frowned and closed his eyes. "Eventually, luck will be on our side. It's only a matter of when or how."

"How about invading Otogakure? We can take control of the shinobi population there," the second wounded Root shinobi suggested. Naraku shook his head.

"I want Uzumaki to take control there, so he and I will eventually go to war against each other. I will kill him and put an end to this madness, once and for all," he told the rest of the wounded shinobi. He turned around and left the wounded men so they could rest up.

When Naraku went out of the castle they'd captured a few days after Naruto's group left, he caught sight of another village in flames. He grimaced at the sight, but he knew he had to suppress the rebellion in order to gain a foothold in the country. He had to continue his fight against the people who sought not only to soil his family's legacy, but to utterly destroy it, never to return. Naraku waited for another Root shinobi to show up, only to see that no one had. Naraku went back to the castle and entered a library where a couple of maps were stored and decided to study its contents. Once he found the map of Earth Country lying on the bottom of the pile, he began to trace his fingers through the cities and the mountains that were indicated there.

For almost half the day, Naraku kept himself busy, thinking of his move next. There was Iron Country to take out, and the other nations that were far beyond the reach of almost every single major power in the Elemental Nations. After spending a lot of time making notes regarding the Earth Country's geography and the village of Iwagakure no Sato, Naraku decided to summon the rest of the senior Root ANBU leaders into the library and to tell them about his next gamble.

"Fellow Root ANBU shinobi, I have decided to attack Iwagakure no Sato," he announced, to everyone's surprise. "I have to take out the nation which nearly wiped us off the Earth, so it will be easier for us to retake Konoha. I know you're thinking that we should attack Konoha first. However, we're low on manpower, and the fact is that we're a group of missing nins on par with the Akatsuki. That is why I decided to attack Iwagakure. First of all,we should capture Otogakure instead of allowing Uzumaki to gain a foothold in that village. He wouldn't want to lead the very same village that killed the Sandaime Hokage in combat."

The kunoichi frowned at his decision. "Captain Naraku, shouldn't we focus our energies on killing Uchiha Sasuke first?"

"Yes, but there's no doubt that Sasuke will have formed a truce with Konoha in order to kill all of us. I say, we lure him into Iwa and finish him off there. We'll do the same with Uzumaki in Demon Country." Naraku smirked maliciously. "Now then, the question would be, when do we attack? We don't have enough supplies to last even three weeks, so we'll have to try raiding some merchant ships for some supplies or riches that can be sold off for some cash."

"Yes, but we're shinobi. Not pirates. How do we...unless…you're not thinking of hiring a couple of pirates to do the job, are you?" the kunoichi told(asked) Naraku.

Naraku grinned and smiled. "There are a couple of groups out there who would like to get their hands on some treasure. We're going to talk to Yoshiro and see which pirate groups would work for us. Eventually, the Elemental Nations will form their own naval power in order to counter our own, but we'll be ready to blast them to smithereens."

Naraku left the library as Yoshiro suddenly entered the castle without making his presence known. They shook hands and took their seats inside a tea ceremony house while a servant poured them tea and placed some dishes on their trays. The second servant gave Naraku what he wanted, a meal without any meat or fish in it, to Yoshiro's surprise, while Yoshiro himself requested raw fish and rice.

"Did you know that eating animals that have walked on the land will eventually kill you slowly and painfully?" Naraku asked the old man in an a matter of fact tone. "My mother used to give me meat, until when she started to have some cardio problems. It only convinced me to eat something that doesn't move."

"You're an odd sort of man, Captain Shimura. You are a very curious man to have taken care of your body at such a young age," Yoshiro answered back. "Now, as for your problems regarding sea power, there are four pirate groups that were very loyal to Kazahana Doto. Three of them prefer to raid on their own terms, but there is one group that is willing to work with us."

"Really? Who would that be?" Naraku asked back curiously. Yoshiro wrote down the name on a scroll.

"Byakkotai. These pirates were mercenaries in Doto's services. They're also spoiling for a fight against Otogakure since their leader was actually killed by Orochimaru long before the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha. You should be aware by now that has been more than one Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Even if there was only one at the time, the Kyuubi could transfer bodies as soon as the previous jinchuuriki was killed. Believe me, I've known for a long time about this ability." Yoshiro replied back. He started to eat the piece of raw fish and smiled. "I may be able to get you in contact with their leader."

"Lead me to him, and I will make an offer that he can't refuse." Naraku grinned and proceeded to start writing.

* * *

**KONOHAGAKURE NO SATO**

* * *

Everywhere around the village, evenin civilian cities around Fire Country, and in other countries with large populations, more and more people were starting to get assimilated by the metallic shapeshifters. A couple of Konoha ANBU encountered one of the assimilated bodies as the rest of the ELS started to move closer towards them. They only succeeded in assimilating a lamp post due to the fact that there was limited technology in the Elemental Nations. One ANBU commander threw a kunai with an explosive tag towards the ELS, but it simply assimilated the kunai and threw it back at them.

"Retreat. We've gotta retreat away from here. Get back to the village, we're gonna need help." the ANBU commander ordered as the shinobi pulled away from the village. It was said that there are even ELS-infected persons in Konoha as well.

"What's going on?" Ino asked curiously as she and Sakura exited from the flower shop, only to encounter the same infected person. A smokescreen only saved them from further attacks as Naruto and Kiba intervened, but the former clutched his head. "Kiba, Naruto."

"It hurts. My head..." Naruto groaned as Kiba sighed and growled.

"Didn't we tell you to keep away from those things?" Kiba growled back, but the ELS-infected human aimed a kick at him, forcing the Inuzuka user to dodge the kick and climbed on top of Akamaru. "Sakura, Ino. Those metallic shape shifting freaks have a deadlier effect on Naruto than everyone else."

Sakura gasped and went over to Naruto while Ino was busy trying to ward off the infected person. "Naruto, what's happening?"

"...Sakura...my head." Naruto moaned and tried to stand up.

"We've gotta get you away from here." Sakura told him, but Kiba grabbed everyone present and doved(dove) for cover as a few more ELS-infected villagers moved slowly towards them. "Naruto, could you try doing your Rasengan?"

Naruto held out a hand as he summoned a clone. The clone formed the chakra ball into the original Naruto's hand, and slammed it against the ELS-infested villager, only to have it dispelled. Ino grabbed the blond jinchuuriki and ran away from the flower shop and into the Hokage's tower where Tsunade and Shizune are busy giving out orders to every available ANBU to move the unaffected villagers.

"This is crazy. Why are those freaks still after Naruto if they've assimilated half of the village already?" the Godaime asked Shizune. Regene and Hixar entered the office and spoke.

"They're trying to study him like another organism. The ELS assimilates anything technological or, if they want to find out about a human they don't know, they assimilate that target in order to understand how they work. I know, they did this two thousand years ago. Back then, the 00 QanT proved to be crucial in stopping them," Hixar replied back, but Tsunade wasn't listening to the explanation as Ino and Sakura along with Kiba had dropped Naruto off into the office.

"If you two will take Naruto out of this world, will that stop those aliens from assimilating half of the village?" Tsunade asked hopefully.

Regene nodded, but didn't smile. "It would, but the ELS have a mind of their own."

"Great, so no matter what, Naruto won't be safe from those hordes of metallic slimes. Is that right?" Sakura asked back. Regene sighed and walked towards Naruto, with Hixar placing his palm on Naruto's head. Another set of visions appeared before them, some of which Naruto had seen already. To the rest, they'd never seen it. "What's this?"

"This...is the events that explained humanity's warfare against the ELS." Hixar told the shinobi present. An image of the assimilated warship was displayed and three humanoid robots were formed in a circle as they try to destroy one of them, while the other humanoid robot was hit by the same substance. "Anyone with quantum brainwaves are affected the most. Even though Naruto hasn't developed those brainwaves yet, they can still sense him just by genetics. Setsuna F. Seiei was part-ELS after all, and maybe his son was also one too."

"Is it possible for a human to have parts that come from those things?" Ino asked back.

Regene nodded. "Possible, but your friend who looks lazy has good observation skills. The quantum brainwaves of a human works like a radio signal. Should there be any interference, it would make a strange noise that sounds like a static."

"All right then. It looks like Naruto can't perform this mission back here as long as those things are still on the loose," Tsunade concluded. She turned to Hixar and Regene, grabbed Naruto and handed him to them. "Make sure that he gets well."

"Of course. We'll need escorts too," Regene requested. Tsunade nodded and summoned Yamato and Yamashiro Aoba. "They will do for now."

"Aoba, Yamato. You two are to escort these two strangers in getting Naruto out of Konoha, and to wherever they will be staying. I will request to Kumo that they bring in Kirabi to help him out," the Godaime ordered the two jonins as they bowed and tried to lift Naruto, but he stood up.

"Wait a minute. What about Naraku? Are you suggesting that I leave this place and allow him to kill anyone as he pleases? That's gotta be the worst mistake you could ever make, Hokage-sama," Naruto snapped back.

"Naruto, what good would you be if you are fighting both Naraku and your own headache? At least go to Otogakure for now and wait there. If another one of those freaky looking aliens shows up then we may have no choice but to send you to another dimension. You'll be safe there," Tsunade told her surrogate son. "Naruto, just for once, think about your own safety."

"I can't. I'd be selfish to think that way," Naruto muttered bitterly, but Regene placed his hands around his shoulders.

"Naruto, isn't it? At least you'll get to talk to my twin about what's happening down here. Think of this as the quest to search for the answers you've been seeking," Regene replied back. Naruto nodded and spoke up again.

"I need another request. I need Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji to come with me in case Naraku shows up," Naruto told Tsunade. She sighed and told Shizune to summon both Shikamaru and Choji, since Kiba was already there.

"Shikamaru, Naruto has requested for you three to escort him into wherever he will go. You know very well that he's in danger if those ELS things are around." the Godaime told Shikamaru after he arrived with Choji.

Choji nodded in agreement. "I agree with you, Hokage-sama. We'll do our best to ensure that we don't get swallowed by those things."

"Get going then," Tsunade ordered, but the door was opened again as Karin ran into the office so she continued, "I forgot, bring her with you. She knows a lot about Orochimaru's hideouts." She looked on as Karin soon followed Naruto and disappeared.

* * *

**SNOW COUNTRY HARBOR**

* * *

A man with a messy hair and a beard sat down in a bar while the rest of his crew were busy instigating fights with the local customers. He drew out a cigar and smoked it as he cleaned his precious weapon, a sword that resembled a Chinese _dao _blade, although he was carrying two of them. By the time he finished his cigar, Naraku and Yoshiro had entered the unfamiliar bar and the pirate looked at them suspiciously. He has seen one of the visitors before, but the appearance of the Root shinobi from Konoha only made the pirate anxious.

"Who the hell are you? Are you one of those guards who come and harass us when we have no jobs left?" the pirate asked rudely. Naraku wasn't surprised by his tone at all. "I'm sick of hearing your crap."

"Do you still remember me, Yao?" Yoshiro asked the pirate. Yao's eyes widened and grinned as he dragged Naraku into the table and offered him a glass of sake. Naraku respectfully declined. "You were complaining about being jobless. Well, how about we make a deal?"

"What deal? As long as that _bitch _is on the throne, we can't do anything to raid the supply lines." Yao snorted and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "There are no ships to raid, and there are definitely no enemy navies to destroy."

Naraku smiled. "What if we told you that we're hiring you to raid some merchant ships coming from Kirigakure or Kumogakure, and that you can keep around sixty percent of the loot?"

"Tell me more." Yao smirked and looked at them. He eyed his dao swords leeringly while he continued to speak. "I'd like to hear about this bounty you've spoken of."

"We need sea power. The naval ships of Snow have sailed into the harbors that belong to Rice Country, and we're short of naval power ourselves. We're also going to need ships that can transport our troops into Otogakure and Iwagakure." Naraku unfolded out a map and pointed at the locations he proposed they go to. "We also need profits in order to buy some supplies and to hire some mercenaries."

Yao raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Do I look like a mercenary to you, kid? Why should I work for you?"

"What if we told you that we've managed to depose that bitch, as you called her, and I've taken over this country? Would you be willing to work for me now? For Doto's sake, we have to defeat the man who killed him," Yoshiro urged on, despite Yao's burning grudge against anything that had to do with Otogakure. "In return, we'll let you loot Oto and some other towns."

"You've got a deal, old man. Just out of curiosity, who killed Doto?" Yao asked again. Yoshiro only had one answer.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well, looks like I could use a refresher and defeat him. I'm from Getsugakure, and I have a bounty on my head. If you're thinking of enlisting a missing nin like me, then you're either an idiot, or you're brave," Yao told the duo.

"You're not the only missing nin, you know. My group had to run away from Konoha because we were labeled criminals," Naraku spoke up suddenly. Yao gasped and opened his mouth.

"So you're the boy who burned this country down. Looks like it's a good bonus for me to work with someone as ruthless as yourself." Yao shook hands with Naraku and stood up as he addressed the rest of the Byakkotai. "Men, it looks like we're hired to raid on some supply and merchant ships once again." Every pirate cheered and toasted with their drink. "Plus, we're given the permission to loot Otogakure."

"Plus Shimogakure and Yugakure," Yoshiro told the rest of the pirates as they continued to cheer. "Well then, I suggest that you guys capture some more ships for us to use, and to build us some cannons."

"Smoothbore cannons that will fire cannonballs, I like it." Yao grinned leeringly and led Naraku and Yoshiro out of the bar and into the harbor where a pirate ship is(was) docked. "That's my ship over there. Name of the ship's the Tianlong."

"I love the ship. A perfect weapon for our battle." Naraku smirked and walked towards the ship with the pirate leader following him. When they stepped inside the ship, more pirates were mopping the deck and some were busy tending to the masts. "Lovely...just what I would like to see."

"If you want, we could forego the attack and concentrate on capturing the ships." Yoshiro advised the Root leader. "We don't have enough to challenge the might of the entire world."

"Plus this ship's made of wood, so those metallic shape shifting freaks can't assimilate them." Naraku replied back. Yao turned around and asked.

"How do you know about those metallic freaks anyways?" Yao asked again. "Believe me, I grew up reading about those things. _Baba_ and _mama _used to read me stories of how I would be assimilated if I didn't behave well."

Naraku sighed. "They are here, and they are assimilating people as we speak."

* * *

**PLANT SUPREME COUNCIL**

**C.E. 70**

* * *

The atmosphere inside the parliamentary building where the PLANT Supreme Council meets is one of anxiety with the latest negotiations that had gone nowhere. Siegel Clyne wasn't pleased with the way the results were produced as a result of the newly created Earth Alliance's feet dragging, given the fact that they would never accept some of their demands. A few of the council members were proposing war to secure their own independence, though he himself had opposed that idea. One of the people who strongly favored military action to defend their hard won freedom was a man named Patrick Zala. A few years ago, the Zala family had gained a minor notoriety because their son Athrun was nearly attacked by the very same ELS that had now wreaked havoc upon the Elemental Nations, which happened to be their new home. To make matters worse, the Zala family didn't really agree with what the moderate faction wanted regarding the negotiations with the Earth Alliance.

"Siegel, I told you many times that it's not worth our time to negotiate with these savages. Even though we were Naturals before, we won't sink so low as to be their slaves again.(,)" Zala Sr. told Siegel all over again. "And if you don't believe me, the Earth Alliance would bombard us with military force."

"Look, Patrick. Even if we rose up against the Earth Alliance, how are we going to survive in the long run? Even the divisions within the Earth Alliance wouldn't help us. We've got the Atlantic Federation snapping on our heels, and the Eurasians are tip toeing around. When I read the reports, I often hear of how some diplomats missed the days when its predecessor super nation used to call the shots. There are some within the Earth Alliance who wanted the restoration of the Earth Sphere Federation," Siegel explained carefully. "They are not pleased with this latest development."

Ezalia Joule spoke up soon after Siegel was finished. "From what I hear, the old ESF was nothing more than a tyrannical organization. Even with their redemptions, I highly doubt they'd want us to go free had they survived."

"If there's anything we've learned from the Reconstruction War, it's that the ESF's long gone. For example, the Atlantic Federation and the USSA used to be one nation, the World Economic Union. Until the Reconstruction War, they had some rough patches. After that war, they broke up," Tad Elsman answered back. "Chairman Clyne, we know what you are getting at, and it's not healthy for the PLANTs in the long run."

"So what are we supposed to do? Buckle down?" Zala Sr. snapped back. "At least give authorization for the formation of our own militia."

"No, if we do promote the idea of having an army to defend ourselves and end up provoking the Earth Alliance into attacking us, then we'd face another unknown factor: armed intervention," Siegel answered in a serious tone. Yuri Amalfi frowned at that suggestion.

"You know, that group calling themselves Celestial Being is long gone," he told them, but Zala Sr. shook his head.

"No, they're not gone. As a matter of fact, one agent tried to recruit my entire family into working for them. As if I'd allow my family to become terrorists alongside Naturals," Zala Sr. snorted, but Ezalia stood up and spoke again.

"We must also remember that the old ESF had the ability to choke off the economies of non-ESF nations two thousand years ago. Thankfully the solar reactors were thoroughly destroyed thanks to some unknown species. At least the Earth Alliance doesn't have the luxury of choking our communication systems now," the Joule matriarch answered back.

"You know what, we should conclude this meeting and focus on what to do next." Siegel dismissed everyone present in the meeting. He and Zala Sr. went out of the Supreme Council chambers in a different direction and spoke to each other. "By the way, how's Athrun coping with that incident?"

Zala Sr. sighed and looked to the wall before turning back towards Siegel. "If you mean when those freaks nearly assimilated him, he's feeling fine. Although we wouldn't be so sure if Athrun's eyes start to glow and he sees flashes before his eyes. It's crazy, the events of the AD era."

"Well, that is why we took those courses when we were younger. So we could make better choices as opposed to the old ESF," Siegel replied back. Once they exited from the building, a young pink haired girl stepped out and hugged her father, Siegel Clyne. "Lacus is also busy with the concerts, and your son's studying hard in the ZAFT academy."

"Still, we have a long ways to go even before a war breaks out," Zala Sr. spoke in a soft tone. "For the sake of the world, we must stay ahead of our adversaries. Our own survival is the top priority, even if war has to break out."

* * *

**VEDA CHAMBER**

Tieria is busy reading some of Setsuna's old live journal entries he made from when he first became a Gundam Meister. Even though it was practically against Celestial Being rules to make live journals (in keeping up the need for secrecy), VEDA had allowed the ex-Krugis Meister to write some, so that his descendants could learn about what he did in the contribution to the two thousand year old peace. Looking at the albums of when they were still alive, Tieria could see the smiling faces of every single crew and Meister, from Lyle Dylandy(presumably died of old age, and never married) to Allelujah Haptism with his wife Marie Parfacy (aka: Soma Peries), and himself with Mileina Vashti holding hands. (Allelujah once made a joke to Ian Vashti that even if Mileina was too young for Tieria, when she grew up, she'd be too old for him. A joke that Ian didn't find it funny, even if it held some truth to it). Tieria glanced over to the picture of Setsuna and Feldt holding hands and saw a small bump in her stomach (indicating that she was pregnant at that time, but Setsuna did return in order to take one of the sons with him into the ELS' world.), and Graham Aker with the Solbraves.

"Those were the old days," Tieria thought to himself, though the old days were long gone by two thousand years. "Let's see from your entry, Setsuna."

He opened one entry, dated from AD 2305, the first time Setsuna joined Celestial Being and was chosen as the pilot of Exia. The custodian of VEDA would later learn that it was Ribbons Almark who had taken himself off the list and placed Setsuna on the roster. A move that was considered to be fatal, and one that would eventually come back to haunt him during the conclusion of the A-LAWS conflict.

_Entry numer one:_

_I finally made it into this unknown organization. Celestial Being is a perfect group that helped me find my own identity. Even though my childhood literally vanished __into__smoke, joining them gave me a new outlook in my life. I was chosen to pilot the Gundam Exia, an embodiment of how I would help reform the world. I'm lonely most of the time, not talking to anyone else other than my fellow Meisters. Lockon __is __like the brother that I never had, and Allelujah __is __also a good guy to get along with. Tieria__…__that guy's a prick. _(Tieria chuckled at how he used to act when he was younger.) _I don't know how anyone else would get along with him. All he does is give dictionary definitions._

_Setsuna._

"Oh geez, I was a jerk back then," Tieria muttered bitterly before turning towards another live journal, this time it was dated around AD 2311, just before he picked him up from the Proud Colony. "Another one..."

_Entry number twenty five:_

_Celestial Being lost the battle. Even though we survived, most of our crew __was__ forced __into__ hiding. I just investigated the destruction of the Lazarus base and deduced that the A-LAWS must be behind all of this. Though __the__ Exia is still in no condition to fight, I __cannot__ find __some__spare parts to repair the mobile suit. As of now, the A-LAWS __don't__ know what I'm doing, and I've also visited the ruins of Krugis from time to time._

_Setsuna._

"Tieria..." a voice called out in Tieria's head. "Tieria..."

"Regene, what is it? I'm busy here," Tieria answered back, but Regene's voice echoed through his head.

"We have one of the seeds. His leader entrusted him to us, but only as far as the next village. There is a war going on, and if he was absent, then the enemy of the seed would win and he would die for sure," Regene replied back. Tieria sighed and gave out another order.

"Stay there and make sure that he survives. He will want to visit me in order to get some of the answers he seeks," Tieria replied back as the mind link was shut off.

* * *

**OTOGAKURE NO SATO**

* * *

Otogakure no Sato wasn't what it used to be today. During Orochimaru's reign inside the village, it was a series of hideouts that were used to conduct inhumane experiments, which resulted in an abnormal transformation for those unlucky enough to become guinea pigs. Now, the village itself was starting to build itself into what would be a model village, with some houses and shops. By the time Naruto arrived at Otogakure with Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Karin, Yamato, Aoba, Regene and Hixar, some of the Oto shinobi glanced at the Konoha counterparts with disdain.

"At least Orochimaru-sama's gone now. Although I am not sure as to who rules this place," Karin told Naruto and Choji. A minute later, a redheaded woman spotted the group and waved. "Great, a Fuuma clan member."

"Is she a friend of yours?" Regene asked Naruto. He nodded as Fuuma Sasame raced to hug him. To their surprise, they heard a horse neigh while Koyuki rode on towards the village. "A female warrior on horseback...this, I've gotta tell Tieria."

"I wouldn't say it for sure, if I were you, Regene Regetta." Hixar warned. A couple of Oto shinobi marched on while some medics were carrying yet another assimilated human in the stretcher. "And our heads are throbbing a lot worse."

Regene nodded in agreement, while Naruto and Kiba introduced themselves to the female Fuuma clan heiress. Shikamaru and Choji could see Karin growling in jealousy at Naruto's flirtation with both girls and proceeded to drag Naruto away from them. Kiba then proceeded to flirt with Sasame, but Regene grabbed him by the ear.

"You know, you should get to know the girl first before you flirt with them." Regene advised Kiba. Once Kiba was led away with Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji, the purple haired Innovade moved along the road with Koyuki on horseback. "It seems that you're a skilled warrior in your own right."

"What do you expect? I played a role in a movie that looked like this," Koyuki grumbled back, but she spotted a young girl looking over the crater where a meteor had landed, or in both Innovades' cases, where the ELS crash landed. "Is it true that those alien slimeballs are looking for Naruto? Why would they want him?"

"It's not something we share openly, Your Highness," Hixar stepped in and walked beside Regene. He whispered something to him. "And I thought Anew Returner or that child of Ruido Reasonance and Marlene Vlady was beautiful."

"Tieria must be kicking himself right now," Regene gleefully laughed. "Say, let's go inside one of those hotels and see if we can get a drink."

"Aren't you forgetting that we've also come here to recruit another set of Meisters? We've got one potential Meister, so maybe one more would do," Hixar reminded the other Innovade as they followed the Konoha shinobi inside. "Now, I believe that girl on horseback would be a suitable Meister, despite her role as a princess."

"Marina Ismail was a princess of a nation, and she wasn't a soldier. How could that woman be better than her?" the Tieria-lookalike asked back once Kiba sat down with them. "You finished talking to the girl already?"

Kiba yawned. "It must be getting late. I must be going to sleep now."

"Of course. Tomorrow is another day, and a few hours less of sleep would mean a day worth wasting," the white haired Innovade chimed in. "Chop, chop."

The next day, Shikamaru was the first one to wake up and go on a patrol around Otogakure with Choji following him. Yamato and Aoba made sure that the chunins weren't wandering off by themselves in hostile territory in case the Oto shinobi attacked them. Naruto and Kiba took turns patrolling the same area Shikamaru had patrolled earlier on and ran into Karin, who was busy talking to Sasame.

"...So you've got the necessary shinobi needed to protect this place? What about Shimo and Yu?" Karin asked the Fuuma heiress.

"They've agreed to expand their shinobi corps in order to cover for our strength. Now that Orochimaru's gone, they may be able to deal with the Fuuma clan," Sasame explained carefully. She spotted Kiba and smiled. "How are you, Kiba-san?"

"Good. Naruto's feeling better already," Kiba told Karin and Sasame while Choji and Naruto were busy picking some mushrooms after their shifts had ended. A minute later, another stranger approached them, only this time Naruto gave Choji the baskets full of mushrooms and went over to the stranger and gave a fist bump. "Whoa! So that's the famous rapping guy."

Karin scoffed in disgust. "Please, his rap's the worst. You don't wanna listen to it."

"C'mon, now! At least Naruto's helpin' me with the rhymes. Whatdya say, we test out our new lyrics?" Kirabi offered, but Naruto nervously declined. "Oh, all right. Looks like we still have to continue our training."

"OK." Naruto replied back and followed Kirabi into a secluded forest.

"Such a drag." Shikamaru stretched his own arms as he helped tend to Koyuki's own horse and tied the ropes to the posts. "I thought we'd be patrolling Oto, not doing some extra training."

Koyuki came over and patted her horse after Shikamaru fed the horse some apple. "It's nice of you to take care of her while I'm gone. I just received reports on what's happening in my country. Your criminal has just signed the pact with the devil. A devil only known as Yao, who once commanded a squad of shinobi extortionists."

"Where did he come from anyways?" Shikamaru wondered, but two Iwa messengers approached the village and handed Shikamaru a letter while the other messenger was busy talking to Aoba. "Iwa's gonna be attacked?"

"Yes. We've just received a report from one of our scouts that your hunted criminal is planning to attack us through Otogakure. They're getting desperate, now that some of our own merchant ships have been captured," the Iwa messenger replied back. "If I were you, I'd call in some reinforcements. We're gonna need them, plus some more from Kumo and Suna."

"Kumo and Kiri can help patrol the seas," Yamato spoke up as soon as he arrived closer to the Iwa messenger. "Unfortunately, we're short on ships as we often neglect the sea."

"That's where you're gonna lose. That criminal Naraku has hired the infamous Byakkotai to help him raid some harbors and unsuspecting ships," the messenger replied back. "I'll relay this message to your Hokage as soon as possible."

"I'll come with you. Aoba, stay here and supervise the chunins," Yamato ordered Aoba as he and the two Iwa messengers started to leave the village. "If the intel's right, we could take this chance to kill Naraku in one swoop, and capture Sasuke too."

* * *

OK, the part where Snow is captured is finally finished. Now, it's on to Iwagakure. Now, some of you might be concerned about how Naruto would fare when he pilots the Gundam in his first debut. My response would be that he will follow Amuro's example and gets shaky at first. Eventually, he improves through time and hard work, though the problem would be that Naruto might get killed in the middle, but of course, he won't. As for his mobile suit, I've already had in mind a GN version of the Sinanju line, only Tau Drive in the first model, and ELS-based GN Drive in the second, and True GN Drive in the last one.

I've added a little bit of the pirate atmosphere here, which would be necessary, given the fact that Naraku's Root ANBU are low on manpower, so it'd be sensible to join forces with pirates, and possibly missing nins that would want to fight for money.

Lastly, there are only a few days left before Christmas, and the release of Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer. In this fic, references to the movie are made, with only one small change: Setsuna and Feldt had children (although she got pregnant through in vitro fertilization. More will be explained later on).


	4. Through the Hole

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00, Naruto or Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Four: Through the Hole**_

Three weeks after Naraku made a deal with the mystery pirate from Getsugakure known as Yao in Snow Country's harbors, the said Root leader stood in front of the harbor with Yoshiro and three secret police agents Naraku had dubbed as the Ookami, or the wolves, as they preyed on anyone who was suspected of treachery long before the establishment of the Five Major Elemental Nations. Twenty ships were docked in the harbor with twenty cannons stored inside each ship. Ten ships were lined up on each side and all of them are powered by sails. Yao gleefully pointed out that some of the ships docked in the harbor were actually ex-merchant ships refitted with cannons for the trip. Along the way, they had secured some treasure which was then pawned off for the supplies and provisions needed by Naraku's Root ANBU. Finally, they had managed to tap into the reservoir of mercenary warriors who were out of a job.

"Impressive," Yoshiro muttered admirably as the ships were constantly busy with crews cleaning the decks and tending to the masts. "How long until we can launch an attack on this village you wanted to destroy, Naraku-taichou?"

Naraku closed his eyes and spoke back(replied) in a calm tone. "Tomorrow, we set sail. The journey will take us a very long time, if we choose to go around Lightning Country on our way into Iwagakure. Or, we could land in Frost Country and loot Shimogakure, Yugakure and even Otogakure, as promised."

"But those villages are well aware of what you will do. A Fuuma clan member has given an order for the other two villages to expand their shinobi corps, possibly creating six divisions. Your army is only worth half a division," Yoshiro pointed out. Naraku nodded in agreement, knowing that he hired the mercenaries to shore up his Root ANBU's fighting strength. "If anything happens to you, can I take over the Root ANBU leadership until you return?"

"Of course, I've already killed Yakushi Kabuto because of he wanted to do with those eyes. There is one thing I still have to do though, and that is to kill Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Madara wouldn't be useful at all, as he's got his own motives for extracting the Kyuubi out of Uzumaki," the Shimura heir replied back. "In that case, we need a plan to eliminate Madara and make our war easier to manage."

Yoshiro nodded and replied, "Well, there may not be a possible method of defeating Uchiha Madara, but if you really need to know, all you have to do is to cripple the eyes. The secret could lie in the eyes, although he has countermeasures against such methods."

"Yet we have to take Madara out, no matter what. He's even more dangerous than both Uzumaki and that Uchiha punk. Defeating him will be a morale booster, unlike anything that's been done before," Naraku told Yoshiro and entered one of the ships, the same Tianlong where Yao was currently napping. "Yao, wake up."

"What do you want?" Yao asked sleepily.

"We need to discuss on one other issue at hand: defeating Uchiha Madara," he told the pirate. Yao looked at him and laughed.

"It's impossible to defeat that man. Believe me, even I wouldn't dare go up against him. Although you've managed to kill that Yakushi guy, you've only succeeded in uniting the organization backing Madara. As a missing nin, I should know other missing nins that would be on the run," Yao answered in a wise tone. He grabbed his trusty dao swords and stabbed the wall with it. "Another idea would be to allow Uchiha Sasuke to fight Madara. Even though he's technically under Madara's command, Sasuke is one loose cannon. I've heard of his gutsy attempt to kill the five kages in a neutral territory. I would have done the same thing."

Naraku's eyebrows rose up as he was shocked with what the pirate said. "Are you saying that I should allow the very same man who killed my grandfather to go up against Madara?"

"I see now. You want that Uchiha kid dead because he killed your grandfather. I get it, you're related to that acting Hokage too, right?" the pirate asked back. Yoshiro glanced at Yao and left. "OK then, listen to what I have to say: even though your plan is to kill both Sasuke and that Uzumaki kid, you need to soften them up first. By allowing them to face off against Madara, both parties will be weakened by their battles, allowing you to finish them off in one blow."

"You're a wise man, Yao. Maybe we should drink some tea to relax now," Naraku suggested. Yao grinned and gave him a tea bag he had stolen from a merchant ship. "I see you drink something other than sake.

"Well, I thought that I am now a full fledged mercenary, maybe I shouldn't drink sake too often. Your habit of nurturing your health has also knocked some sense into some of my men. Finally, here's another tidbit: tomorrow is the only day when the sailing conditions are suitable. Storm season's coming, and we cannot afford to lose even a single ship if we want to loot three shinobi villages. Even though we have twenty ships, those countries can field as large as thirty ships. The Five Shinobi Powers can also field as large as two hundred ships, maybe more. Iron Country, it can field as large as the same number of ships as the former, although they're strictly neutral. Their neutrality was shot to pieces thanks to that Uchiha punk," Yao pointed at the locations of every country. "This country's ships are all gone, adding their strength to that of Oto's naval strength, though it isn't much,"

Naraku sighed and yawned. "Fine, we'll launch tomorrow. If this info is faulty, I don't know what to do with you."

"You would be an idiot to discard my services. The other three pirate groups are freelancers, they don't give a damn about you at all," Yao advised Naraku as the latter left the cabin. "By the way, you and your shinobi should sleep on this ship. Since we're leaving tomorrow, I would suggest that you mobilize the shinobi from this country as soon as possible. Just a suggestion."

"Well, maybe we can share command, Yao," Naraku smiled and summoned one Root commander to relay the message. "We accept your offer."

* * *

**OTOGAKURE NO SATO**

"What a drag. Are you sure that you'll be staying here in case Naruto goes away from here?" Shikamaru asked Koyuki as soon as they entered a motel. "It looks like I may even be leaving here for the front lines."

"You know, you would make a great general, Nara-san. I can see your skills are what Naruto is lacking," the princess replied back in a sour tone before they ran into Naruto and Kirabi, who had returned from their training session. "You're back."

"This kid's nuts. Even when I told him to take a break from training, he still went at it," Kirabi ruffled Naruto's hair with his free hand. "Anyways, I heard about some creep who took your country away from you,"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, and he wants to kill both Sasuke and Naruto."

"I say, you would make a good addition to our organization," Regene spoke up, startling the group as he walked towards them. "Hixar has gone back to our world in order to pick up one of our companions. It won't be long before he returns."

The entire group entered what it resembled as the Otogakure version of the Hokage tower as the sentries there cleared the path. Sasame and Karin were busy studying the maps and receiving messages and reports from scouts and spies working for them and piecing together information on Naraku's activities. Kiba and Choji arrived in the office, carrying some more documents and placed them in the table while Aoba was busy giving orders to some more Konoha ANBU who arrived.

"This place's getting busy. I swear that Sasame's getting better at this stuff than you, Naruto," Kiba joked to him, despite the fact that Sasame wasn't even considered a kage material. "Shikamaru, how's that girl you've been seeing?"

"Oh, Temari-chan's busy with a lot of things. She's also in charge of Suna's patrol squad that is doing joint recon missions with Iwa. She sends me letter often, but they're written in code. I have to decode it to read its contents. It's her way of making me less lazy and more whipped to her conditions," the lazy shadow user groaned. He gave Kiba a scroll filled with the written code. "You wouldn't be able to decode it, because she used a different code that only works in Iron Country. She even had to learn how to use it, that troublesome woman."

"If you are having a hard time with her, why even bother-oh, I give up," Kiba sighed and turned to Choji. "I would love to have some of that barbeque right now."

"Me too," Choji agreed.

"Wait a minute. Did you guys learned about what Naraku's been up to yet?" Naruto asked suddenly as Karin turned towards him.

"Well, we now know what he's been up to. He's planning to attack Iwagakure for some odd reasons, though we may suspect that he wants to destroy that village before retaking Konoha from the Godaime Hokage. That kid's nuts. Even Orochimaru-sama didn't want to recruit someone who hated kekkei genkai so much," Karin answered in a disgusted tone. "If you want, you could go towards Iwa and relay the message to the Tsuchikage."

"I'll go do that. Only one problem, Iwa sure has a grudge against my old man. If I entered that hornet's nest, they'd hunt me down," Naruto spoke back worryingly. "Another thing for sure, Naraku would also want to lure Sasuke there as well."

"Well, I have an idea. You guys may not like it, but here it goes," Sasame told the group present. "Since this Naraku guy wants to attack Iwa after such)a short period of time, it would be sensible to attack through land, instead of sailing around Lightning Country. How about we ambush him right here, to alert Iwa to their actions and giving them enough time to set up and mount a counteroffensive?"

Everyone paused for a moment as they digested the idea in their minds. They knew well enough that no man would want to invade Iwagakure after a longer journey, and attacking Kumogakure was off limits, considering the depleted Root ANBU's manpower and supplies. The other factor that came into their mind was Naraku's deal with the infamous shinobi pirate known as Yao, and his acquisition of naval ships that may be pivotal in ferrying his troops into Shimogakure. Knowing that pirates are looking for booty to steal and towns to raid, they'd want to raid some towns before heading off into Iwagakure.

"That would be a plausible plan, but there are some flaws in this plan. Suppose Naraku changes his mind and attacks Kumo instead? Or maybe he decides to take Kirigakure instead and the islands that surround it. How can we tackle this problem then?" Shikamaru asked Sasame. He pointed at the map again and traced his finger from Snow to Lightning Country. "Or how about they attack Iwa through Wind and Sunagakure in particular?"

"Naraku's not that stupid. He wouldn't want to attack two major villages with his depleted troops. He only wants to attack Iwagakure because it symbolized Konoha's vulnerability, and its constant reminder that Konoha doesn't trust anyone in his own twisted mind. If you ask me, he'd want to attack villages that are considered weak to him," Naruto spoke up soon after. Sasame and Karin looked at him. "Look, even if I don't know anything about strategies, I know well that Naraku wants to kill both me and Sasuke. He also knows that Madara is still alive, so he may have some sort of trick to weaken him."

"True, but what's the top priority then?" Kiba asked back.

"Defeating Madara was always the main goal of the Fourth Shinobi World War. If we could prevent him from using the last seven bijuus, then we'd have the advantage," Naruto replied back, but he frowned. "Then again, I'm out of ideas."

"Looks like you're becoming less of a dunce after all," Choji observed. "Still, even we can't even defeat Madara by ourselves."

"Well, if you're done discussing war tactics, there's something I'd like to say," Koyuki interrupted the group and turned towards Naruto and Shikamaru. "I received a letter today from the diplomat representing Demon Country, stating that their priestess is waiting for a certain someone to fulfill his promise of helping with the next generation,"

Everyone gasped in surprise and Naruto gulped nervously. She turned towards him and placed her arms around his shoulder. "Did you forget that?"

"C'mon! I thought I was helping her find the next generation," Naruto told everyone, but he froze for a minute. "Seriously, she said and I quote, 'will you help me with the next generation?' I just accepted, thinking it's just another mission."

"You should go to the bathroom and relax for a bit," Kiba told Naruto. The latter took the suggestion and went towards the bathroom and washed his face. He saw his reflection and gasped as his darker half tsked at him.

_**"You're so stupid."**_

"I told them my reasons," Naruto told his other half, but the yami version still shook his head.

_**"No wonder **__**why**__** they mocked you for your so-called intelligence. It practically doesn't exist at all," **_Yami Naruto told his counterpart. _**"First of all, did they tell you about the birds and bees when you were little? Let me guess, either you skipped that class, went to that class but didn't pay attention, or the teacher didn't want you to learn about it and barred you from attending it."**_

"It's a combination of all three," Naruto replied back. Yami Naruto cackled and grinned. "No teacher in their right mind would want to nurture the mind of a jinchuuriki."

_**"Well, it looks like you should learn about how the birds and bees work a lot more. Scratch that, you should learn more about how this world works. You have a lot to catch up on, with your grades the lowest in class and how you wormed your way into the genin ranks because you learned the Shadow Clone Technique. On top of that, no one bothered to tutor you about the basic things. Seeing as Naraku was right about why jinchuuriki like yourself shouldn't learn at all, it would be harder to kill a jinchuuriki if it was smart," **_the yami half droned on. _**"I'm not siding with him, but if you want to survive, you have to learn how to become mentally competent. This is where I come in, I'll take over your body if you're in danger, but you need to learn how to manage me properly. Otherwise, **__**you'll**__** regret your mistakes faster than you can say 'Hallelujah'."**_

"Still, she looked like she's in love with me. Hell, every woman I've met and saved their lives, ends up having a crush on me," Naruto replied back. "Even when I learned of Hinata's confession, I was still at loss."

Yami Naruto nodded and looked at his counterpart._**"Now that is when **__**you began your**__** journey into romance. No one would have told us about it, since our parents are dead. I'm not saying that your parents adopted me. I am a part of you, after all."**_

"So how do we cope with romance then?" the lighter half asked back.

_**"I'm not the right person to ask, despite the pun, 'ask yourself'. If you want to learn all about romance, you've gotta learn it from the source: your girlfriend, if you have one anyways. Romance isn't something you learn in a book or a simulation," **_the darker half continued on. _**"Anyways, do consider what that girl is asking you, and you can give out an answer. You can't renege on your promise after all," **_Yami Naruto cackled humorously as regular Naruto groaned in annoyance. _**"It's your shinobi way, and you never go back on it, right?"**_

"Naruto? Are you feeling well?" Choji asked him once he stepped out of the bathroom. "Looks like you've gone insane."

"Yeah, that seems to be right," he mumbled on, but accidentally bumped into a scout on their way into the Otokage office. "Sorry about that."

"No time to apologize, kid. I have an urgent message to the leader herself," the scout replied back. Naruto accompanied the scout into the office and she handed out the scroll to Sasame. "Here's the message."

Sasame opened the scroll and read its contents. She dropped the scroll and told everyone present. "Naraku's invading Shimogakure."

"What are we waiting for? To let him come here and kill all of us? We have to go now," Naruto suggested. No one objected to his suggestion while everyone got ready and left the office before exiting the village gates.

* * *

**SHIMOGAKURE NO SATO**

* * *

Yao and the rest of the pirate mercenaries Naraku had hired a few weeks ago proved to be more competent than any shinobi who rarely had any training at all in their lives. They certainly knew what they were doing, targeting banks and any other places that may hold something of value while Naraku and the Root ANBU were busy fighting Shimogakure shinobi. In the distance, the Byakkotai ships were busy raiding the coastal areas with impunity. Under Naraku's order, no people would be captured and sent into slavery as they would only burden the war effort.

"Keep searching for any houses that might hold some gold," Yao continued to slash away at anyone who stood up to him. His dao swords are stained with blood already as he wiped them with the cloth of a dead man. "Naraku, there's plenty more where they came from."

"We're just focusing on engaging the shinobi forces here. Make sure that the battle takes long enough to draw Sasuke or that Uzumaki punk out," Naraku ordered as he threw a shuriken and hit a tree trunk. He grabbed his own katana and sliced down enemy shinobi, despite the fact that their Ice Type jutsu were forcing the Root ANBU to fight a lot harder than they should have, and on just their first phase of the planned Iwa invasion. "Fire melts ice, right?" He made a handsign. "Fire Style: Phoenix Burst Jutsu!" Embers spouted out from his lips and the Ice type techniques soon melted in front of them. "Still, I won't just rely on ninjutsu alone!"

"Ugh..," Yao growled as he forced himself to fend off against two Shimo shinobi with his dao swords. "You know what? I'm just fine without using my own chakra up. Water Style: Water wall jutsu!"

"Earth Style: Earth Dome Barrier Jutsu!" one Shimo shinobi called out the technique. Suddenly, a flurry of kunai laced with explosive tags rushed out of nowhere as some Root ANBU were struck by the barrage and died due to the explosion triggered by the seal. "They're here."

Naraku turned towards Naruto and readied his katana. "I hate it when our plan is shot to pieces. Where the hell is that Uchiha punk?"

"You're fighting me instead!" Naruto shouted as he used his kunai to block Naraku's sword strike. "What's the matter? Sasuke didn't show up to kick your sorry ass? I'll do it instead!"

"You're bluffing," Naraku sneered back and dodged his punches before aiming a kick into his ribs, which Naruto blocked, but a second kick forced him back. "You don't even know how to use your own weapon properly. How can you expect to defeat me now?"

"With this," another voice called out as Naraku turned around and saw two Narutos with a Rasengan in each of their palm. "You're done, Naraku!"

"I don't think so," Naraku shouted back and dispelled the clones holding the Rasengan. "Uzumaki...you will never defeat me. Not in two thousand years."

Naruto ignored Naraku's taunts and focused on what he would do next, but Yao took this opportunity to ambush the young Uzumaki with his dao swords. Naruto blocked Yao's dao sword strike with his kunais, allowing Naraku to rush forward with the sword pointing at the back of his enemy. However, two cyclones intercepted him and a giant human ball rolled over the Shimura heir as he jumped up, allowing Shikamaru to jump up from where Choji was rolling and used the sun to blind him. He stretched his shadows and attempted to trap him in his own shadow, but Naraku used a smoke ball to distract the shadow user long enough for the rest of the Root ANBU to swarm towards him. Choji saw what was happening and stopped rolling in order to use his Partial Expansion Jutsu to crush Shikamaru's pursuers.

At the same time, a group of Kumo shinobi on patrol spotted Shimogakure from the dense forests, already in a middle of battle. Team Samui and thirty Kumo ANBU paused for a moment to see what is going on. Omoi could spot Naraku fighting both Naruto and Kiba at the same time and was itching to get into the fight, but Karui restrained him under orders from Samui. Darui and C went to another secluded location and started to set traps in order to deal some damage to Naraku's Root ANBU should they decide to retreat.

"Mine the harbors too. Not as in look for gold, but lay some bombs," Samui ordered the Kumo ANBU and they complied with the order by disappearing from the forests. She held up pair of binoculars and looked at the incoming Oto shinobi arriving to help Shimo's shinobi take out the invaders. She also spotted Aoba and a few Konoha ANBU taking on the Byakkotai pirates, and was surprised at how competent they were on the battlefield. "So the infamous Byakkotai are more than just pirates."

"They're also missing nin who needed the company of other missing nin in order to survive. Strange, since when did they decide to buddy up?" Darui asked Samui. A stray kunai laced with explosive tags had hit the tree and exploded, alerting Naraku's Root ANBU and the Byakkotai to the presence of Kumo's shinobi. "Now would be the perfect time to kill them."

"Kumo's shinobi are here. Damn, I didn't know they'd show up in this ungodly hour," Yao snarled and made some handsigns. "Wind Style: Wind Bullet!" He blew a wind bullet from his lungs and forced the Kumo shinobi to dodge. "Their leader is skilled in the art of the sword."

"Pirate scum! You will not escape from here," Samui used her katana to block Yao's dao sword strike while Karui swung her katana into the other dao blade. "Now Omoi!"

"Right. Cloud Style: Reverse Beheading!" Omoi swung his own blade at Yao, who was in such a vulnerable position, only to have it deflected by Naraku's own katana, forcing the Kumo shinobi to engage him. "You've got guts attacking this village, Shimura. As expected from Danzo's grandson."

"Yet you've distracted me from killing my enemy at hand. I don't mind, since I'll be killing both of you at the same time." Naraku spotted a flying katana knocked out the hand of a pirate and grabbed it with his free hand. "Now then, shall we commence?"

"Well, sure, why the hell not? Killing you would make the war a bit easier," Omoi and Naraku charged at each other and clashed blades furiously. Both warriors threw shurikens at each other while the Kumo shinobi deflected them with his own blade. Samui and Karui managed to break the deadlock with Yao with the help when)Shikamaru's Shadow Possession technique paralyzed him for a while. "Thanks a lot, Konoha nin."

"We're all the same thing here in this war. Besides the Akatsuki, we're fighting to make this world peaceful once again," Shikamaru drawled on, but Naraku cackled evilly. "Troublesome."

"The truant says troublesome. Do you honestly think this war will end in your victory? Maybe, if the enemy is Uchiha Madara. Since it is me, I'd say you will lose. You have to lose this war in order for this world to become what Danzo-jii-san envisioned," Naraku slammed his katana into Shikamaru's kunai.

"That's the exact reason why we can't let you succeed here," the Nara heir growled and pushed his Shimura counterpart before Kiba and Akamaru intervened with the Fang Over Fang technique. "Do it, Kiba!"

"What?" Naraku gasped and doved back from the incoming attack as Choji swooped down in an attempt to stomp his enemy into the ground. "Figures...you've all improved. Scratch that, hardly improved."

"Good. That's just the way we want you to think," Kiba smirked and made one handsign. A minute later, a couple of explosions rocked the ground, indicating that they were explosive seals set by local Shimo shinobi long before the Root invaded. "Here comes Naruto."

Naruto had just stabbed another pirate in the ribs before he turned back towards Naraku along with Aoba. They threw some shuriken at the Shimura heir, expecting him to dodge or block the shots, which he did. Naraku expected Naruto to come closer towards him, but received a shock when Kiba had lunged closert owards said Root make. What made matters worse for the Root ANBU,was that some of the local Shimo shinobi had taken the unsuspecting Root ANBU commanders hostage by dropping a couple of smoke bombs that put them to sleep. Realizing that he might lose this battle, Naraku gathered some of the remaining Root shinobi and moved them closer to the village gates. Samui's team rushed to the gates and reached them first before the Root, while Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji pursued them briefly.

"You cannot escape, Naraku. What are you gonna do now?" Naruto sneered at his opponent, relishing at the thought of taunting the very same man who had insulted him constantly. Naraku made a handsign as Naruto gathered some chakra in his palm with the help of the clone beside him.

"Wind Style: Wind Vaccum Wave!"

"Rasengan!" Naruto slammed the rasengan into Naraku, but he had replaced himself with a log. "Damn."

"Looking for me?" Naraku asked suddenly as he reappeared beside his enemy and kicked him in the ribs, causing Naruto to fly into the ground. "Figures. Your skills have improved, which reinforces my view that jinchuuriki like you should never have been kept alive at all. What's the point of jinchuurikis if they're going to become loose cannons?"

"At least we have the power to do what is right for the world," the blond jinchuuriki panted and tighten his grip on his kunai. "Unlike any other jinchuuriki, I was able to gain recognition from people whom I've considered precious to me. This recognition saved me from my own darkness, and in turn, I was able to share this experience with others. Gaara too, gained recognition from the people in his village and became Kazekage."

Naraku growled and threw his katana into the ground. "It would have been easier if you'd never gained recognition. You sided with that fool of a man Sarutobi over my grandfather, which was your first mistake. Your second mistake was bringing back Tsunade as the)potential Godaime Hokage, which spoiled Danzo-jii-san's chance of becoming Hokage. Your third mistake was befriending a Root ANBU agent, and causing him to fail in his mission. Now some of the Root even look up to Kakashi, and they're considered traitors in my books."

"Sakura and I knew that Danzo sought to gain the title of Hokage. Let me ask you this: what would we have done if Danzo was chosen as Hokage instead of Sarutobi-ojii-san?" Naruto countered back.

"Simple, he'd crush anyone who gets in his way," the Shimura heir answered back bluntly. "Perhaps...I could even become Hokage, the very title you've desired. Let me tell you this, I cannot let you become Hokage and distort the true way of the shinobi with these ideals of peace and justice. There is no good and evil, there is only power and those who are too weak to seize it. You and I are the opposites of each other. This time, I will end your miserable life and make this world ideally well, in my image!"

"Not if I killed you first," Naruto closed his eyes and focused for a minute. "Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji. You three form a triangle around me."

Kiba gaped at his suggestion. "What the hell do you intend to do?"

"Kill him. No one badmouths about the Sandaime Hokage and gets away with it." Naruto opened his eyes, which were replaced by a set of toad's eyes. "Naraku, now's the time for me to finish you off."

"Sage mode...makes it more interesting if I killed you in that state too," Naraku spoke back and grabbed his katana from the ground. Both shinobi moved towards each other rapidly as Naruto aimed a punch at Naraku, who dodged it. However, Naraku felt something painful in his cheek, indicating that Naruto had purposely missed his aim so he would lower his guard down. "How can you be so powerful?"

"You should know by now," Naruto answered back. He jumped out of the way as Naraku made some handseals.

"Wind Style: Vaccum Release Sphere!" The wind ball formed up and launched itself towards the blond jinchuuriki. Naruto countered this attack by launching his own Wind Rasengan into the Vaccum Sphere, but the collision of the attacks was so strong, it caused a huge gust of wind to blow both warriors away, while some of the combatants were swept aside and knocked themselves out.

"That move...it's like the moves Danzo used against Sasuke," Karin spoke up as soon as she leapt closer to Kiba and Shikamaru. "Unlike Danzo, Naraku doesn't have the burden of having kekkei genkai with him."

"We can see that. The problem is, does he even have a weakness?" Shikamaru asked back, but Naraku threw a smoke bomb towards them, forcing the group to move away. "Naruto, you'd better beat him quick."

"I'm trying to do that," Naruto told the lazy shadow user rashly before he moved closer to Naraku and kneed him. Naraku retaliated by stabbing the jinchuuriki in the shoulder with a kunai laced with an explosive tag, allowing him to escape from the battle for a bit. Naruto wrenched the explosive tag laced kunai out of his shoulder and threw it away before the kunai exploded, sending him flying again. Once Naruto was knocked into the ground, a set of smoke balls were released, obscuring the visions of the defenders. Once the smoke cleared out, they noticed the Root ANBU and their pirate allies had gone, but not westward. "Damn Naraku."

"Naruto, don't push yourself," Choji warned him. Shikamaru and Kiba went over and gave Naruto a food pill so he could stay up a bit longer. Naruto also felt that his Sage Mode had been expired. "Are you all right?"

"Never been better. Naraku's tough, even without a kekkei genkai to help him. Even with my Sage Mode, he's stronger. Judging from the way he fights, he's somewhere near jonin level," the blond jinchuuriki panted heavily, the side effects of the Sage Mode had kicking in. "I feel so tired already."

"Even with the food pill, he's still weakened," Kiba observed. Akamaru went over and barked at him. "Akamaru's saying that he can give you a ride on his back."

Aoba rushed over towards the Konoha group, accompanied by Yamato and Kakashi in order to see what's going on. "Naruto-san, are you OK?"

"He's tired. He used his Sage Mode up in his fight against Naraku, and now he's exhausted," Shikamaru reported to Kakashi and Yamato. "Where were you guys?"

Kakashi explained everything. "Well, Tsunade wanted to send us towards Iwa to make sure that their defenses were reinforced because of Naraku's planned attack against them. By the time we learned of his location here, you guys had already started to fight."

"True. We saw how he handled himself in combat," Omoi spoke up suddenly, surprising the Konoha group. "I guess I do owe an apology for hitting you, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto shook Omoi's hand and grinned. "You were just doing your job. Believe me, if you had a missing nin from your village who attacked a Konoha shinobi, I would have beaten some answers out of you."

"Agreed. Now then, where are the Root shinobi now?" Karui asked back. She looked around at the carnage that dominated this tiny village and covered her nostrils as the reek of death covered the battlefield. She noticed a couple of footprints leading eastward. "They retreated."

"Yes, they did," Samui answered at once. "They must have lost a lot of their soldiers. Looking at the way Naraku's army had handled itself, they must have done well, despite their irreplaceable losses."

"It won't be the first time Naraku's done something gutsy and risky. He's going to launch more raids and attacks in order to bolster his army, though the skilled Root leaders will be a lot harder to find since some of them were killed in action."

"What do you say, we take a rest inside Shimogakure and plan our next move then?" Yamato suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement and entered the village itself with the local head giving instructions on where to take in the wounded and the dead. "Naruto, you should rest when you get to the hospital,"

* * *

**PIRATE SHIP**

Naraku lay down on his bed inside the pirate ship Yao had commanded. Even though he had almost defeated Naruto in combat, the fact that he lost a good number of units, most of them were jonin level, was something that would bother him throughout the night. Now that he'd lost a couple of shinobi of high caliber, he might have to tap into the manpower held by Yoshiro and the Yukigakure secret police. Yao himself entered Naraku's cabin and sat on his bed.

"Why the long face? We've secured some of the stolen goods," Yao told the Root leader. He realized that his depression came from today's battle. "Look, Naraku. You knew that you'd lose your best soldiers in the war. This is normal."

"If it's normal, then why do I feel as if I lost the fight?" Naraku asked back. Yao sighed and placed his hand on his shoulders.

"Tactically, you lost the fight because you lost your valuable commanders. Strategically, you could have won because you almost defeated Uzumaki and crippled Shimogakure in one swoop. Now the village is tending to its wounded, you've made a wise move to retreat. If you had insisted on moving westward, we could have lost more troops. Even though this is war, you should be psychologically and mentally strong. Your mind can determine the fate of the battle if your mind is sharp and clear. Don't get too depressed, or you could end up making fatal mistakes that would tip the scales in your enemies' favor," Yao advised Naraku. He grabbed a kettle and poured water inside before starting the fire and setting the pot to boil. "Perhaps a few days from now, we should get back on our feet and raid another country. How's Demon Country sound? They got weaker armies there, and we could try and kill the local priestess there."

"Good idea. Then we can draw both Uzumaki and that Uchiha punk inside that country and kill them," Naraku hoped, but Yao shook his head. "I'm the leader of the Root ANBU, so I should dictate what I need to do."

"Even a leader has to assume responsibilities for his army. If you're going to make immature decisions, you won't accomplish your goal any easier," the pirate/missing nin replied back. Once the kettle started to steam up, he turned the stove off and grabbed a tea leaf(some tea leaves). Yao placed the tea leaves into the hot water and gave Naraku a cup. "This should help,"

"Thanks," Naraku mumbled and sipped the tea. "I guess you had it rough as a missing nin, right?"

"Being a missing nin _does _have its rough sides, but at least you don't have to obey orders from a leader you hated. Other than that, you're constantly on the run so often, you have to deceive your pursuers into dead ends and fake trails in to survive," Yao grinned and chuckled. "So, what's the plan for the raid on Demon Country?"

"Take out their armies before they take what's left of ours. We're down a considerable amount of troops, so we need to make do with what we have now," the Shimura heir paused for a moment as he sipped his tea. "Notify Yoshiro that we won't make it back to Snow until we're done with the raid on Demon Country,"

A few days later, the fleet began to sail from the port located on the border between Frost and Lightning Country back to the same seas it sailed through from Snow. Just as Yao had predicted a few weeks ago, the storm which would have made the expedition impossible to launch had now kicked in. Lightning strikes were common in this vast sea, and the crews were busy trying to wrap up the sails so it won't(they wouldn't) get damaged in this(the) storm. Some of them also had to frantically throw the water out(off) of the deck and a few had come down from the ladders. [come down from ladders from where?] Yao and Naraku looked over the sea as they saw one ship capsize, mostly because they hit some jagged reefs and their ship had a hole in them. The soldiers who got off the sinking ship escaped on a smaller boat just in time.

"What do you propose that we do now, Naraku? Should we turn back to port or keep going?" Yao asked Naraku loudly over the storm. "If this keeps up, we may not even make it to Demon Country at all."

"Set sail for the nearest island. We'll have a rest there and wait for the storm to subside," Naraku shouted back, but a lightning bolt struck at the pole ofthe mast of Yao's ship, causing it to fall into the deck. Naraku used his katana and channeled some chakra in it to cut down the mast and rescue a pirate crewwhose leg was caught beneath it. "This guy's leg is broken. I say we get him into the nearest bed and tend to his injuries."

"I don't know, Naraku. We don't had any missing nins that are proficient in medical ninjutsu," Yao warned his Root counterpart. As the storm continued to ravage the sea, the ship kept on rocking back and forth as some crew members were thrown off into the sea.

"Men overboard!"

"I'll go in," Naraku doved into the water fearlessly and waved over to Yao, who ordered the men still on the ship to throw in the life preserver. Naraku grabbed the life preserver and hauled on the man thrown overboard. "Root, help me retrieve the men overboard!"

"Roger that, Naraku-taichou," one Root ANBU replied back and doved into the water to help his leader take another man back to the ship. "Taichou, you'd better get back on the ship, or else you'll freeze to death,"

"I know that, but we've gotta look for more survivors. We can't afford to lose more than we already have," Naraku replied back sternly. He tried to swim through the rough waves, only to stumble and sink deeper until he can saw another man about to sink into his death. Naraku then waved over for another life preserver to be brought to him, just after he drug the drowning man out of the water. "Bring us in."

"You heard the man, bring them in," Yao shouted out. Three men pulled the rope attached to the preserver and brought the drowning man aboard. Naraku panted in exhaustion. "All right, bring them to a warm place."

"Aye, aye," the crew replied back in unison and handed out some blankets to the four men who had ended up in the water. Just then, one of the pirates gasped as he spotted an approaching island.

"Land ho!"

"Looks like we've gotta stay there for a while until the storm lets up. All ships, make sure that you don't go too close to the coast or your ship run aground," Naraku shouted this time. "We'll rest here until the sky is clear and the ocean is suitable for sailing."

When the ships hadarrived at the island, Yao and Naraku decided to set up camp while the storm was still raging. The latter had grabbed his book from the ship and began to read once he entered the tent and obtained a lamp. The pirate leader slept in another tent, allowing the kunoichi who always escorts Naraku to come inside his tent and set her own sleeping bag beside him.

"What are you reading?" the kunoichi asked curiously.

"Some sort of a book about legends. It's related to the shape shifters and why they would go on from one part of the galaxy to the other. I don't know what those words mean, but I can tell that they've stumbled across some nasty thing on their travels. This war in the other dimension is far more bloodier and more destructive than even the Shinobi Wars combined. Think about it: technologies that are created to advance humanity are also used for nefarious motives. Even their weapons are far more advanced, and it only increased the chances of war rather than decrease it." Naraku placed the book down and looked at her. "There is a portal at the border of Demon and Dimension Countries. I have to get there in order to discover the other world and possibly take over that world in order to take this world as well. The way of the shinobi may be warped by what I will discover there, but ultimately, it will help me achieve my goals."

"Well, you'd better sleep now. You can't launch an attack if you lack some sleep," the kunoichi warned and both of them soon fell asleep.

* * *

**SHIMOGAKURE NO SATO**

* * *

News of the Root ANBU's attack on the minor village of Shimogakure had spread across the entire continent like wildfire. Even Madara and the Akatsuki remnants were surprised at how tenacious and reckless the Shimura heir was conducting himself on the battlefield, and for someone who didn't have to go all out against Naraku, Madara could still see that the grandson of the tomb robbing old man intended to kill both his new apprentice and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki simultaneously.

At the same time, the same news of the attack had reached the ears of Regene and Hixar, who mentally relayed the news back to Tieria even though this should have been impossible to do since they're in two separate worlds, but Tieria and VEDA had found a way to do it, and Regene was the key puzzle in doing it and he responded back by ordering them to move Naruto closer to the portal in which they had come from. In this case, it would be the unknown land called Dimension Country. It is, as described by some villagers who lived there as a land dominated by temples dedicated to the cosmic shape shifting gods (ie: ELS), and served as the jumping point between the Elemental Nations in one world, and a place called Jupiter in another world.

"Good thing too, Demon Country is close to that nation too," Regene grabbed a map he found in the Shimogakure library and scanned it. "Swamp Country...that's the place where the legend of Mouryou originated, right?"

"According to the archives made a long time ago. The creation of Mouryou was caused by the darkness inside mankind's hearts. The same kind of distortion Setsuna would want to destroy," Hixar answered back. A minute later, Naruto and Karin arrived in the library to browse for some books. "Hello there. What are you up to now?"

"I need to borrow a book or scroll on kenjutsu techniques, and to get a swordsman to teach me the ropes. Naraku's proficient with swords, and I have to prepare myself for such confrontation," Naruto explained carefully. Karin found an older book and took it with her. "Besides, how do I know that this world of yours isn't some sort of a fairy tale?"

"If you mean a world where warfare there is waged with technologies that are more advanced and more destructive than the ones here, then you'd be surprised by how you'd manage to adapt. Our world is real, and it's constantly changing. From good to bad, and vice versa," Regene answered back while he and Hixar traced the map all over again. "Naruto, isn't it? The way you are determined to find a way to get the answer you desire regarding peace without fighting, there is only on source. My twin brother, who lies on the other side of the world,"

"Really?" Naruto wondered back.

"Sure. He can give you the answers since he's been living inside a giant super ball of metal for a long time," Hixar answered in a nervous tone, not wanting to disclose the full extent of Tieria's operations inside VEDA. "So then, there is only one more mission to do, and (then) we have to convince your leader to let you come with us. We can provide you training like you've never had before."

"That would mean you two would have to go back to Konoha then," Naruto concluded. He sat down beside Regene and looked down. "Back when we were in Oto, I saw myself in a mirror, and the reflection revealed to me a side I never would have thought that I could have before. It's like the way he talks, he sounds so sadistic. I've only encountered my dark side once, and that is when I had to face off in the Waterfalls of Truth where I had to conquer my own self before continuing my other training."

Regene closed his eyes and thought for a moment as he recounted a conversation with Tieria a long ago about a certain Meister who had a sadistic side. He later learned that it was the same guy who later killed Hilling Care in a battle before he was taken out by the GN Fin Fangs. Ribbons had killed him so he can focus on fighting Setsuna, which led to)the showdown between the Gundam that had saved Setsuna and the Gundam that was given to Setsuna. History has its own ironies, and the fact that the Exia destroyed the 0 Gundam which had saved the first Innovator's life seems to be ludicrous, yet it happened.

"With power comes responsibility. An old saying that applies to anyone who has such untapped power and they doesn't know what to do with it," Hixar spoke a while after Regene paused. "Just like the Gundam Meisters who were given Gundams to stop wars from spreading, they have to use that same power to prevent Celestial Being from becoming extinct. Such power is a double edged sword. It can kill your opponents, but it can also kill you if you're not careful."

"So, how do we get into the portal that you guys came from?" Karin interjected and joined them in their discussion. "You did say that you teleported here, right?"

"True, but that would also mean going into the very same group of species that nearly gave Naruto a migraine. It's very risky, but once we get through, then we'd be back in our world. We just have to convince Tieria Erde to awaken the Eternal Innovator out of the sarcophagus and let him deal with the ELS. He knows them a lot, having spent fifty years with those guys."

"But how do we know if he will help us?" Naruto asked curiously, not familiar with the guy who could help them. "It's not like he's (been) dead for a long time."

"The founder of Celestial Being was kept in a cryogenic chamber for two hundred years, awaiting for the day when he could wake up and see that there was no more war. I believe Setsuna would wake up to find the peace we've kept for two thousand years will be smashed and say his two descendants must band together," Regene answered back as he and Hixar stood up. "Follow us and we'll head back towards your village."

"What about facing off against Naraku?" Naruto asked again. Regene turned to him and spoke back in a hushing tone.

"The man you've faced off against in the last battle, he is the one who will try to destroy humanity and its two promised seeds as foretold in the prophecy. We cannot disclose the full contents, but we can assure you that whatever we do from this point on, your life will change forever."

"Then let's go back to Konoha and tell the Hokage that I am going with you two on a permanent vacation, and that my status as a shinobi should be on hiatus," Naruto replied back and exited the library with Karin following him.

* * *

**KONOHAGAKURE NO SATO**

* * *

Tsunade wasn't surprised when she found herself facing the two Innovades and Naruto in the same office, having been escorted by Aoba and Yamato earlier on. Izumo and Kotetsu had been replaced by the same escorts as they came up to the office, standing guard while the Hokage had her talk with the two Innovades and the blond jinchuuriki. The issue at hand: convincing Tsunade to let Naruto to go to their world and help stop a bigger, and bloodier, war.

"So you're saying that there is a war in your world, and you want Naruto to stop it. Tell me why I should grant his request to place his status as a shinobi on hiatus?" the Godaime asked suspiciously.

"Surely, you know that the prophecy-"

"You mean, the prophecy written in the last will of the Yondaime Hokage? We know about it and it's hard to decipher, although we know for sure that Naruto's involved," Shizune replied back, while placing the scroll into the table. "We have a war here. Why can't he stop this one first?"

"Eventually, the enemy of the two seeds will find a connection to our world and aid the ones who will eventually lead humanity to its destruction. If you want to know so badly, Shimura Naraku is the enemy of both Uchiha and Senju clans since his family's been tainted by the events Danzo has caused. Although we may not know who he is, it's obvious that the grandson would want to respect his grandfather's legacy, even if humanity must drown in its own blood," Regene replied back.

"Would you rather allow the ELS to assimilate half of this world? Even as we speak, the medical corps has been riddled with assimilation. If I can recall, I heard a report of a medical shinobi who had to be examined because he was struck by the ELS," Hixar countered back. He looked to the side and continued to talk. "Moreover, the ELS would only make things worse with another faction out there to prevent Naruto from keeping that thing inside him."

"At least allow some another shinobi or any other person to come with me. After all, they also came here to look for the new Meisters to replace the ones they've lost," Naruto finally told(pleaded with) the Hokage. "With the additional skill and power in my arsenal, I can finally end this madness once and for all."

Shizune nodded. "Let him go, Tsunade-sama. If the other world is affected by whatever madness it created, then we're bound to be affected too. For the sake of this war, for our goal of peace, we have to let Naruto go in order for him to find the answer to the question Jiraiya-samahas entrusted him to look with."

"As much as I don't want to admit, you do have a point. Very well, I'll let you go. On one condition: you must also take one other person with you and let him or her join this group as well," Tsunade ordered. When Naruto nodded in agreement, she smiled. "You may go. After one more mission that will take place in Demon Country that is. Naraku plans on attacking that country in order to get to a portal that could connect to the other world. It is said that this portal is concentrated with strange particles that resemble chakra, only stranger than normal chakra."

* * *

**A FEW DAYS LATER**

**DEMON COUNTRY**

* * *

"There it is. Demon Country, dead ahead," Naruto told Regene as he waited for the rest of the troops to show up. Sure enough, Shikamaru's team plus Hinata, Kakashi and Gai's team had arrived to take positions. "No one in sight so far."

Neji looked at the distance ahead with his Byakugan. "So far, few enemy troops have gathered outside the country's defensive walls and there are no defenders at this time."

"We should arrive in that country first before Naraku does, or this mission will be a failure," Shikamaru suggested. No one objected at his suggestion. "Kakashi-sensei, give us the signal to go ahead."

"Wait a minute," Neji paused for a moment as he spotted Sasuke in the distance. "What the hell is the Uchiha doing here?"

Naruto didn't need to know why Sasuke showed up, but Kakashi gave orders for everyone to move out and to move closer to the gate. When the Konoha team had entered the walls of the palace on the outskirts of the city. A couple of guards were walking around with bows and arrows with a few samurai rushing towards the wall with their naginatas and katanas. Neji and Lee were surprised to see a few members wave at them in recognition, having been here before in their last mission to escort Shion into Swamp Country in order to seal Mouryou. This time around, they had to prevent Naraku from attacking the country while he was still reeling from the disastrous adventure in Shimogakure.

"Figures Naraku would try to attack this dump," Sasuke spoke first, startling everyone present. "Why would he even bother when he could have just finished me off, which he wanted to do in the first place?"

"That's because Naraku's worried that his precious Root might be annihilated after we gave him a bloody nose back in Shimogakure no Sato. This time, he won't take as big a risk as before," Naruto replied back scathingly. "Now then, there might be something he's after in here besides Shion. What would it be?"

"Do you remember how we told you that Naraku would stop at nothing to destroy the two seeds that will ensure that humanity will survive? He's after the portal that lies between Demon and Dimension countries. I may(should) have known that he would be after such portals, since(. It is possible) he could have learned about the conflicts in our world," Regene spoke back(replied) while Neji and Shikamaru went up to the wall.

"No one's at the gates yet." Shikamaru looked over the gates.

"Strange. Where could they be?" Kiba asked curiously. Hinata joined her cousin in surveying the walls. "Seen anything yet, Hinata?"

"Nothing so far," Hinata replied back, but she spotted something in the distance. "Someone's running towards us! It's not a friendly unit. Wait a minute, there are more shinobi approaching us!"

"They're here." Naruto grimaced and grabbed the three pronged kunai he kept around and Sasuke drew his katana. "Sasuke, if Naraku shows up, we have to take him out at the same time."

"Like I need your help," Sasuke scoffed, but it only made things got worse as a couple of arrows flew over the wall to land on their side. Neji gasped when he noticed some of the shinobi pirates were carrying bows and arrows. "Are they trying to launch a siege?"

"That's our cue," Naruto growled and threw some kunais into the ground, purposely missing their targets. Once the pirates saw the seal but they were too late to escape as Naruto used the Hiraishin to cut them down, and yet he couldn't maintain his new Hiraishin properly. "Sasuke, above you!"

"I got it." Sasuke stabbed one pirate in the chest with his katana. He gathered some lightning in his palm and channeled it to his weapon. "Chidori Stream!"

Some of the pirates were caught in Sasuke's Chidori Stream attack and died of their wounds soon after. Naruto countered another pirate and threw the kunai into the ground and teleported closer towards him. He slashed across the pirate's chest, killing him when his lungs were ruptured and moved on to another pirate. It was at this moment that Naraku reappeared in front of both Naruto and Sasuke, unsheathing his weapon and charged towards them.

"I'm not done yet! Chidori Stream!" Sasuke yelled desperately and waved the Chidori-enhanced weapon at Naraku, but he soon countered it back by using a Wind Jutsu.

"Wind Style: Wind Vaccum Cutter!" Naraku countered back and knocked the weapon out of Sasuke's hands. "How foolish. Your Lightning Style moves are useless against me, for I can counter it with a Wind jutsu. I also know about your Fire affinity, and that is why I brought a friend along."

Yao grinned and made some hand signs and jumped into the sky. "Water Style: Rising Water Slicer!"

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Sasuke called out his attack and managed to block the water jutsu with his own fire jutsu, but it also created a smokescreen as some of his own fire attack was easily extinguished. "Where are you?"

"Up here!" Yao cackled and slammed his dao swords into Sasuke's katana which he had picked up earlier on. "You're good, Uchiha brat. Not(, but not) good enough to defeat me!"

Naruto raced towards Yao and appeared to have punched him, but Yao merely kicked him aside. Naraku turned towards him and jumped up as he raised the sword above his head, forcing Naruto to dodge so he wouldn't be cut down to pieces. Both the blond jinchuuriki and the _de facto _Root leader slammed their blades at each other as close as possible, not giving in an inch to one another. Naruto barely dodged Naraku's kick that nearly hit him in the chin and kicked Naruto in the rib cage. He also followed it up with a punch, which landed on Naraku's face, sending him staggering around for a bit until the jinchuuriki jumped forward to land the finishing blow. Naraku countered back by swinging the sword closer to Naruto's neck, hoping to cleave his head off.

"I've got you now." Naraku was surprised to see Naruto shove him back and had his katana knocked out of his hand. "Still, you will not defeat me."

"Time to die, Naraku." Naruto threw the three pronged kunai into the tree trunk and teleported closer to the Shimura heir. He kneed Naraku in the ribs, who wheezed in pain, but didn't cough up blood. "Anything else you want to say before I kill you?"

"That's what I should be saying to you," Naraku answered. A couple of arrows were launched from the bows of the marauding pirates as they also brought in some catapults to break the wall down. "A siege? We don't have time to launch a siege. We need to capture the country quickly!"

"Like an old proverb, slowly does it every time. We rush things during a siege and we lose the war," Yao warned back. He and Sasuke traded sword blows to each other and continued to use their respective jutsus. Once the rest of the pirates started to launch more rocks at the wall, the defenders retaliated by launching some arrows and liquid bombs. Some of the bombs exploded once they hit the ground and the invading Root shinobi who were caught in the blast died of their burns.

"You may be considered patriots in your own minds, but to the rest of the world, you're just criminals. You cannot be allowed to escape from this world alive, Naraku. I'll make sure that I fulfill my master's dream of a conflict-free village." Naruto and Naraku were still at a deadlock by the time the bombs start flying. "As long as war and bloodshed remain in this world, there is no purpose for humanity here today."

Naraku scoffed and gritted his teeth at the same time. "You're right. There is no purpose for humanity, because we're merely tools of war. Having emotions would spoil it in the long run."

"Is that why you chose to join Root? Just so you could be ordered around like a puppet? Do you even have a desire to run your own life in the first place?" Naruto asked angrily as he and Naraku traded punches and kicks continuously before the Shimura heir made some hand seals.

"Wind Style: Vaccum Wave Reverse Cutter!"

Naruto made some hand seals too and created some clones. They all formed some Rasengans on their palms and threw it from different directions. "Multiple Direction Rasengan!"

"Damn, I won't dodge it in time!" Naraku gasped and braced himself for the blow, but he was lucky enough to have Sasuke's Chidori Stream and Yao's own Wind jutsu had dispel the Rasengans, but it created an explosion that rocked the entire battlefield. "Thanks, Yao."

"No problem. I won't get paid if my boss and client had already die," Yao answered in a sarcastic tone. Even though Naraku didn't mind what his answer was, the pirate was still a valuable ally to him. "There's plenty more where that came from."

As the siege drug on, the defenders standing on the wall continued to send arrows and bombs into the invaders, who replied back by sending the Root shinobi to scale up the wall and kill all ofthe defenders perched on the top. Hinata and Neji proceeded to take out the remaining Root shinobi, until a few more shinobi showed up in the fray, who were neither Root or even a bunch of missing nin. To a shinobi who had fled Yukigakure, the sight of these secret police brought back dark memories of their corrupt nature as they strived to silence anyone who spoke out against Doto's regime.

"Yoshiro's dogs have arrived," the Yuki shinobi reported to the Konoha group. Naruto threw a couple of three pronged kunais into the ground, even as Naraku was hot on the trail to stop him. "Take them out, if you could, for they pose another threat to Her Majesty."

"All right, old man. You've got your deal here, but I'm busy warding Naraku off," Naruto snapped back before he delivered a kick to Naraku's chin. "Anyone want some more, I'll gladly give it to you."

Naruto made some hand seals as his body began to change and the Kyuubi's chakra had enveloped around his body, giving the impression of the Kyuubi's appearance in its chakra form. He sped closer towards the incoming secret police shinobi and disarmed them before stabbing a kunai in their backs. A couple of pirates aimed their arrows at him, but he dodged the projectiles. One of the arrows had hit his shoulder, and he took it out carefully. Once he flashed and slashed across the battlefield, killing any of the remaining Root shinobi and marauding pirates, Naruto turned back towards Naraku and attempted to do a Tailed Beast Bomb with the fox's arms.

"This is beginning to get too dangerous," Naraku thought to himself as Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb was thrown at him, though it wasn't as perfect as what Kirabi hoped for. The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded before it could get to(reach) Naraku, but the force of the explosion had sent him (and Naruto) flying into the ground, and Naruto also flew to the ground as well. Once the invaders have started to retreat, the Konoha group began to pursue them around the defenses and into the borderlands that divide Demon from the nearby Dimension Country.

"What's going on?" Naruto paused and winced as his head started to buzz. The Konoha group and the two Innovades stopped and realized that they'vethey'd crossed into Dimension Country, and that they were closer to the portal in which Regene and Hixar had come from. An hour later, the routed Root shinobi started to flee eastwards at the sign of(when they spotted) the Dimension Country horsemen about to aim their arrows at them. "Ahh!"

"Naruto!" Sakura showed up at the same time as the local Dimension Country troops. "There's a portal nearby."

"Where?" Naruto asked back.

Regene and Hixar pointed to what it looked like a tetra-gram while the ELS themselves shifted into a snowmobile and pointed at the same tetra-gram. A while later, the Demon Country archers and Priestess Shion showed up along with Koyuki on horseback as Naruto stood at the tetra-gram along with Regene and Hixar. The Dimension Country shamans started to form hand seals and Naraku approached them as close as he could.

"Take care of Shion, everyone," Naruto told Shikamaru as the tetra-gram started to glow, even as Sakura did her best to ward Naraku off while Sasuke came charging towards Naraku. Once the portal started to open up, it sucked everyone nearby inside, including Sakura, Sasuke and Naraku. "Damn, we're gonna end up bringing Naraku into your world!"

Naraku laughed maliciously. "Soon, I will begin to distort the world once again, and this time I shall kill the tree which had planted the seeds of turmoil. No longer should the distortions be destroyed, but rather spread out like wildfire. No more shall the world tolerate peace once again."

"I'll rip you apart!" Naruto yelled back before the other hole began to open up and everyone was separated in different directions. Regene and Hixar were standing with him inside what it looked like an old, derelict warship that the ELS must have used when they nearly invaded the Earth. "What is this place?"

"Welcome to our world, Naruto," Regene grinned. "From this point on, we will lead you to Tieria Erde, the man who has the answers."

* * *

**UNKNOWN LOCATION**

No one knows what happened to the Rokubi jinchuuriki after he left Kirigakure. Only one thing came to mind when they hadn't heard from him: he was captured by the Akatsuki and had his bijuu taken out from his gut, literally. For Tsuchigumo Hotaru, the memento of his bubble blower served as a reminder that she had lost someone close to her and that the Akatsuki must pay. To make matters complicated, the Akatsuki had gotten themselves into a war with the Allied Shinobi Forces, whose primary goal was to obtain the Hachibi and Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and the Root ANBU from Konoha, who were reduced to nothing more than bandits who longed for a Konoha under their now-dead leader's control.

"Is it true that you've avenged Utakata-sama?" Hotaru asked herself as she kept on walking down a path in an unknown country. Since the war had begun, her village had become deserted when they knew that a major battle would destroy their village. The villagers abandoned it and had become a bunch of wandering refugees. Their goal was to get inside either Iron Country or Dimension, which would accommodate any refugee as long as they obeyed their laws of neutrality. Once the refugees from the Tsuchigumo village had arrived in a port, a transport ship began to take them in and set sail.

"A scroll? I wonder what it reads," a refugee wondered while Hotaru moved to stand beside the scroll and read its contents.

"So they were responsible for Utakata's death, and Naruto's just like him. Both have a tailed beast inside their bodies," Hotaru thought to herself as the ship continues its journey. No one would know that she would have a role to play in another upcoming conflict, one where she would face the same man who had defeated the Akatsuki member responsible for capturing and killing Utakata.

* * *

OK, so this is the longest chapter in the series so far, and the stage is set for the SEED arc. Unlike the previous NarutoxGundam SEED fics, Hotaru will eventually replace Koyuki and Shion, and maybe Amaru might join in the fun as well. I've had Sakura and Sasuke as potential Celestial Being members, though I may jot down the list of girls that are suitable for Athrun (except for Cagalli), and they are: Hotaru, Sakura and Miriallia. The same thing can apply to Kira, though as for the appearance of Revive and Anew, it's either Fon or Shinn that might be paired with Anew, or Athrun too.

Now, I could start giving a little self-critique in here as to save your time from actually telling me stuff like this, but the pirates under Yao's control knew some aspects of siege warfare, having learned about it from Naraku's explanation and the history of the shinobi world too. Now, you may wonder why I've made these pirates lay siege to a village when they could just enter it and raid it. Simple: the wall stood in the way, and in Yao's case, it would be very stupid for them to just enter the village without having to take care of the defenses first. All of the pirates in Yao's group are former missing nin, though they may not pose a threat to the world at large. Yeah, you could say that I made a bad attempt to incude pirates in this chapter though.

As for Naruto's fights, I had to think about scenes that wouldn't be tarred as overkill, so I had him fight in sage mode without replenishing his energy and thereby made him exhausted. Even with the food pills, it can't beat the side effects. His Kyuubi mode only lasted for a minute as he suffers some migraines at the presence of the cosmic shape shifting gods of Dimension Country (aka: ELS). So, I couldn't tell whether his fight was either overkill or just short. Short, possibly, but then again, I'm trying my best to make a good battle scene.

In the Gundam 00 Movie, it said in the end that the Innovators had traveled to different dimensions in order to explore them. Possible, they could have discovered the planet in which the Elemental Nations are in, but their existence would eventually be revealed by Celestial Being.

As for Naraku, he will be the primary villain of the series, bordering on Ali Al-Saachez, Ribbons Almark, Yazan Gable, and Paptimus Scirocco. Naruto's Yami and Hikari sides will also be the vocal part of the fic, though it could or could not resemble the Allelujah/Hallelujah relationship. As for the promise made by Naruto to Shion, that will be covered at a later time, but I'm not gonna make this a harem fic, so it's a possibility that Naruto can get someone else to do the job.

So, this is it for the pre-SEED arc, and maybe the next chapter might be dedicated to Fon and his meeting with Kira. As for Madara's role, he will appear in Destiny and in the Librarian Works arc, precipitating a power struggle between him and Naraku.


	5. Prelude to a Rude Awakening

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam SEED or Gundam 00.

_**Note:**_ There are two songs that are used for the sake of the chapter. I don't own these songs, Uverworld and some other singer does. Another thing, this will be redone in light of my decision to give Naruto a regular mass produced(albeit an antiquated GN based suit) Ahead. Well, a different kind of Ahead, with its thrusters vertical like the Ahead Sakigake and some beam weapons and GN Beam Katanas. It's mostly because I wanted to take an entirely different approach from the Shippuden Next series that I'm going to break the tradition of giving Naruto a Gundam, so I can accomplish two things: one, he can become an ace within a different faction, though he will join one of them later on, and two, I would placate some potential disgruntled readers that might accuse me of giving Naruto a needlessly overpowered Gundam.

Finally, Naruto in this fic could become the next Graham Aker, though with a penchant for Tieren-like suits. A little bit of the Smirnov persona in him, plus a dose of Ali Al-Saachez would be different from the Shippuden Next series, in which I've given him a thorough dose of Setsuna's persona.

* * *

_**Turn Five: Prelude to a Rude Awakening**_

* * *

**CELESTIAL BEING BASE**

**C.E. 70, FEBRUARY 14**

* * *

Inside the abandoned Celestial Being base, Tieria watches Regene and Hixar bring the unexpected visitors who popped over from their side of the world inside. Naraku had already escaped earlier, but they didn't have any manpower left to pursue this dangerous individual. The three ex-Team Seven members rested inside the infirmary, watched over by the medical staff present as the VEDA custodian waited until Naruto wakes up from his ordeal. Just beside the infirmary stood the factory where five new GN Drives are currently placed on a giant box, waiting to be placed into the new Gundams.

"The Gundams should be completed soon." Tieria told the other two Innovades, but a message from VEDA had interrupted the conversation. He gasped at the contents of the message as a clip was shown of a giant hourglass that had been perished in a nuclear missile attack. "No way...a space colony...gone in a minute."

"Nuclear weapons are a favorite of this new Earth Alliance. Even though they may not be as powerful as the Memento Mori or even the CBS Celestial Being, they can still deal a lot of damage. The only thing completely unique in a dark way is that a space colony has been obliterated." Regene observed back. A medical personnel floated over to the three Innovades and whispered something into Regene's ear. "Tieria, it seems that one of our guests have awakened from his ordeal."

"I'll come over and talk to him. You said that he's looking for answers regarding the need for peace, right? If this is true, then he has arrived at the right place." Tieria floated away from the main hangar and into the corridor with the medical personnel leading the way. They turned over towards the infirmary as the blond haired boy sat up in his bed. "I assume that you're one of the seeds the ELS had found."

"You mean those freaks that always give me the headaches? I'm not much of a seed, aren't I?" Naruto asked back scathingly, which irritated the VEDA custodian a bit. "Your clone has told me all about this organization, and what it does. You wanted me to join your group in order to stop a larger war from breaking out while I stand by helplessly as my home is engulfed in flames. Is that right?"

"I thought you'd want to find out the answer to your question of a world without conflict, right?" Tieria reminded the young boy.

"Yes, but-"

"Then you'd come to the right place."

"Hold on. I still have a war to fight back home, and you want me to abandon my village where everyone will be in danger?" the blond asked back.

"I didn't _say_ that you have to abandon your home. Listen to me, young man. If you weren't one of Setsuna's descendants, then I wouldn't waste my _time_ lecturing you. We need you to join us because you have a role to play in preventing humanity from destroying itself, both in this world _and_ in your own world." Tieria snapped back sternly. "You are chosen as the newest Gundam Meister."

Naruto didn't understand what Tieria had meant by being a Gundam Meister. "What is a Gundam Meister anyways, and what is this Gundam thing? Some sort of an animal?"

"A Gundam is a robotic weapon, and a Gundam Meister is someone who pilots the Gundam. First of all, you don't even have experience with machines, so it will take us a long time to train you, unless we can ship you off into a neutral group and have them train you in the art of piloting a mobile suit. We also have a long list of potential candidates for the Gundam Meister rosters, but we'll have to study each and every one of these same candidates." Tieria answered back. Regene appeared a minute later and whispered something to his ear. "What? A disturbance back in that other world?"

"What is it?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It appears that there is someone who's stumbled across the same portal we've used in order to get here." Regene reported. "A blonde haired girl has arrived in the country bordered with the other country where you just fought a battle."

"Blonde haired girl? I'm not sure what you're talking about." Naruto admitted.

"In that case, I will have to commission you two as Gundam Meisters until I can get another Innovade or human to take over. I could become one again, and maybe we can settle for three Innovade Meisters and one human Meister in the form of Fon Spaak. Naruto can be a reserve or special Meister trained with a neutral group." Tieria suggested. Naruto tried to get up, but Regene restrained him. "You need to rest up. Now's not the time to start yet. We still have to indoctrinate you on basic knowledge."

"What about Sakura and Sasuke? What are you going to do with them?" Naruto pointed at the sleeping figures of his former teammates. "Tell me more about this group, and I will tell you if I want to join you."

"They could train, but one of them will have an explosive necklace on his neck, in case he tries to escape. We can send him to the Orb Union to lay low." Hixar popped out a minute later. "Tieria, you can recreate Leif Recitativo and have him commissioned as another Meister. We're gonna have around seven Meisters. Four Meisters for the main team, and three for reserve. Naruto, Fon and another human can be in reserves."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't consent in joining your group yet." Naruto protested and laid down.

"You don't have a choice in this matter. You are one of Setsuna's descendants, and it's my duty to help the two seeds restore the Earth in its rightful path." Tieria replied back sternly before Naruto fell asleep.

* * *

**HELIOPOLIS**

**C.E. 70, FEBRUARY 22**

* * *

Fon Spaak entered the classroom with a notebook and textbooks in his hand as the professor asked him some questions. He handed him a slip of paper, confirming his enrolment in the class and pointed at an empty chair beside a brown haired, amethyst colored eyed boy. Fon sat down beside him and placed his head down in the desk while the professor is giving a lecture.

"Class, what can you tell me about the problems that an OS might have?" the professor asked. Fon raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Stad?"

"An OS might have problems if it isn't wired in properly, or that the operator may not be able to overcome its glitches without any help whatsoever." Fon answered back.

"Correct. Now, an OS could be used properly if th operator knows what he or she's doing..."

"Man, that was an interesting class. Studying about the OS for a mobile suit, it's like elementary computer classes to me." Fon told the brunette haired boy. He offered his hand and shook the other boy's hands. "Robert Stad Jr., at your service. What's your name, kid?"

"Kira...Kira Yamato." Kira introduced himself. Two boys and a girl waved them to come over. "Tolle, Miriallia!"

"Is he just a new student in our class?" Tolle Koenig asked Kira. He nodded and beckoned for Fon to come over. "Wow, I didn't know you'd knew a lot of stuff."

"Heh. It's just survivor's instinct that I need to know much about what you guys are doing. That's all. Anyways, I've gotta head back home. I'm just tired from all these assignments that I've been given for the last few hours." Fon stretched an yawned loudly as he turned around and left. Along the way, he walked by three girls, one of whom is engaged to the blond haired boy who is sitting beside Tolle.

"Hey guys!"

"Flay." Sai Argyle hugged his fiancee and waved at her other two friends. "Did you guys had any classes with the new kid on the block?"

"That guy we passed by?" Flay Alster asked back and scoffed. "He's pretty rude. He didn't say hi to us at all."

"He's just tired, that's all." Miriallia Haww answered back honestly. She couldn't help but think about Fon's mysterious life, other than the one he has in the colony. "So, what's new?"

"The Earth Forces have started to attack Yggdrasil already. My dad's worried that I might get caught up in the conflict, so he sent me here to study." Flay told Miriallia. She went closer to Kira and glomped on him. "Hey, Kira."

"Ahh! Flay, nice to see you again. Although, I wouldn't startle anyone if I were you." Kira chuckled and looked over to Sai in order to make sure that he didn't get jealous. "So you've met that new student."

Flay nodded and narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah, the way he acts, he's giving me this vibe that says fight me or something. He looks like a thug."

"That statement is right. He does look like he had a rough life, though I am not sure of how he got here in the first place. Did you guys invite him into our next party this coming Saturday?" Sai asked everyone present. "We should convince him to hang out with us more often."

"The invitation should arrive in an e-mail." Flay smirked and left the group with her friends tagging along. "Time to reveal that hunk's softer side."

When Fon arrived at his new apartment suite provided him by his mysterious backers, he looked at the monitor and found one message waiting to be opened. He went over to the computer and opened the message as Tieria appeared on the screen, with Regene, Hixar and the stranded members of Team Seven behind him.

"All right, Erde boy. What's the scoop with the war, and how come you've got _three_ uninvited house guests in your end?" Fon asked curiously.

Tieria scowled at the name Fon called him. "First of all, you_ should _address me on a first name basis. Second of all, those three _aren't_ uninvited house guests. Regene brought them back on my orders."

"Yeah, except that you were supposed to bring only one guest. Tell me if you plan on bringing some more guys from that kid's side of the world and I'll introduce him to the war. Besides, Yggdrassil is under attack." Fon reported, causing everyone to pause for a while. "If you must remember, the ESF built that space station a few years after they reconciled with Celesital Being and shared the GN tech together. That's how you get the Sakibure suits."

"True, but we're still not ready to intervene. Also, we have a problem. He doesn't like the idea of joining us, even if he is interested in looking for answers to a good peace. Second of all, we've analyzed his body and found out that he could endure almost anthing. Hear this: he has an ability to heal his injuries, even if his body is broken." Tieria replied back, but Fon was confused and curious. "The kid's name is Naruto, by the way."

"Naruto? Is that a ramen or something?" he asked back nonchalantly before realizing that the name is referred to a blond haired boy standing beside Hixar. "That kid acts like that Kyrios guy, only a_ lot _more stupid."

"Yeah, his peers have described as stupid when he was young." Regene added his comment, much to Tieria's surprise. "Don't get me wrong, but Naruto has another personality inside him. It's a different type, since this other half is described as the dark half, and he's the lighter half. I heard that someone with an extra burden in their gut has to conquer their dark side if they want to get stronger."

"Great, just what we need. Another Beside Pain as a Meister, or another Haptism kid. Couldn't we get someone who's normal for a change?" Fon grumbled.

Tieria chuckled. "There is another person that is on our list. He's pretty unstable, yet he is capable of working for us. His name's Canard Pars, and he was the first prototype Ultimate Coordinator."

"Ultimate Coordinator? That _monstrosity_ hobby that's attracted the wrath of certain extremist groups? Like, why the hell would you recruit _that _guy? Aren't we supposed to take out the other Ultimate Coordinator, whoever he or she is." Fon argued with the VEDA custodian. "Besides, this war's just getting started."

"All right, but we've failed to recruit him. The Eurasians have got him already." Tieria interrupted the conversation firmly and looked at Fon. "Now, your real assignment is to extract some information from the local military company Morgenroette. The Earth Forces have started to build their new mobile weapons, and I need the info on that. If it looks like a Gundam, then we have no choice but to capture it. If it isn't, we destroy it."

"Yeah, but I've been restricted from entering that place because of assignments. At least tell me how to avoid security guards when I am gonna get caught." Fon replied back and hung up. He laid down on his bed and fell asleep.

In the morning, Fon was awoken to another buzz coming from the monitor. He slowly went over towards the computer and opened its contents to find a new e-mail message. He read its contents and replied back to the message.

_Hey Rob,_

_Party's at my house on Saturday night. Would you be interested to come? There will be food, drink and maybe some new guys and girls for you to meet. I'm sorry for my actions earlier._

_Flay_

"Good thing I am using my real name." Fon chuckled and messaged back. "Let's see. Oh yeah."

_Hi,_

_So you're that Flay lady who glomps after nerdy boy with the toy birdie. Sure, I'd love to come over for your party. As long as there are no liquor, I'll be fine._

_Robert Stad Jr._

"And send." Fon smirked as he clicked the button.

* * *

**SATURDAY NIGHT**

**FLAY'S HOUSE**

* * *

Fon arrived at a beautiful looking house with Kira, Tolle, Sai and Miriallia tagging along for the ride. Once they entered the house, Flay welcomed them inside as Fon took off his shoes and looked for the bathroom. Kira and Sai dragged Tolle into the living room as another boy called Kuzzey Buskirk waved them over to start some weird game that involve stepping or placing their hands on some weird color.

"Thanks for inviting me over, Ms. Flay." Fon grinned and waved at her. He spotted Kira and Sai joining another boy from their class in a game of Twister. "You sure have some odd sort of friends. Two smart looking geeks and a guy who could learn a thing or two about confidence."

Flay smiled. "Well, to tell you the truth, Sai's my fiancee. It was arranged by our fathers on a verbal agreement."

"Well, dearie. A verbal agreement wouldn't be that_ useful_ if it wasn't _enforced_. What they should have done is to make that agreement on paper and sign the thing. It's like an arranged marriage contract or some other thing." Fon replied back, but Flay giggled at Fon's advice. "I admit that I don't have any tips on romance and stuff. I spent my entire life as an orphan. My parents died on a space colony construction."

"That's too bad. My dad's the Vice Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation." Flay spoke back. When Fon tried to look for any book that talked about the Earth Sphere Federation, he couldn't find it. "Oh, we don't refer to the old ESF anymore. It got too large, so the Earth Alliance succeeded the ESF."

"I'll say. So, what can you tell me about that kid with the toy birdie?" Fon asked as he watches Kira and Kuzzey play. "You seem to glomp on him at any opportunity."

"Yeah, I admit that Kira's got a thing for me. He's too shy to compete with Sai over me, so he's not totally hopeless." the redhead admitted. When they went into the living room, Tolle and Miriallia looked at the old karaoke bar. "Oh, that's mine. I used to sing when I'm lonely. I have some happy songs too."

"So why don't we start singing then?' Fon suggested, but another doorbell rang out. Flay grabbed the door and found her two female friends, Jessica and Trisha standing in front. She let them in and the two friends gasped in delight at his appearance. "Geez, not even Chall or that Vashti girl was this nuts, and they act like they've seen a rock star."

Kira and Sai chuckled. Tolle went beside the ex-Fereshte Meister and laughed. "Well, your attire matches that of a rock star."

"Robert's suggestion is pretty nice. Can we start the karaoke?" Miriallia asked back. Flay nodded and began to turn the karaoke on. A book containing the list of songs was found beside the karaoke, as Flay gave the book to Fon. "Who should sing first?"

"How about you, Flay?" Kira suggested. Flay shook her head and gave the microphone to Fon.

"You choose the song first."

Fon looked over at the list and typed in the code for the song as the title _'Uverworld-Change'_ appeared. He paused for a moment until the music starts to play and he started to sing. The rest of the group stopped what they were doing and listened to his voice.

"He's talented. No doubt about that." Sai commented. He noticed Fon shuffle his pockets around as his cellphone rang and went to the bathroom, so he can take the call. "Robert?"

"Hello?"

"Hello, Fon. Hixar here. I'm just telling you that there will be someone who would join your little group when the time is right for Celestial Being to intervene once again. Plus, we've managed to locate the proto-Ultimate Coordinator somewhere in Eurasia. We're on our way to recruit him." Hixar replied back cheerfully. "On the other hand, we've finally located one of Setsuna's descendants."

"Hixar, you little dope. Is this the right_ time_ for you to tell me this? I'm in a middle of a party hosted by a lovely chick and you just had to ruin it for me." Fon hissed back, but Hixar chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, Fon Fon. You're still the same funny prankster from two thousand years ago." Hixar replied back nonchalantly, but Fon grumbled. "Don't worry. You'll get another call when this party is over."

"Yeah, whatever." Fon mumbled and hung up. He returned to the living room as Flay continued to sing. "Just don't phone me again, Fermi."

* * *

**CELESTIAL BEING BASE**

* * *

Tieria wasn't happy when he learned from Hixar about Fon's behavior inside Heliopolis. According to the white haired Eye of VEDA, Fon is busy partying with a couple of new friends he found inside the colony's college while he was supposed to snoop around Morgenroette for some info on the new mobile suits. To make things worse, the report of a new mobile suit wasn't even sent yet as the machines themselves weren't partially complete. Make that ten percent complete.

"What in the hell is that lunatic thinking? He could have compromised our existence. That fool." Tieria snapped angrily, but Regene shook his head.

"I don't know. Our group's already compromised when we sent that agent to recruit the other seed. You know, the son of an influential PLANT representative." Regene replied back. He pointed at the stranded Team Seven members. "What are we supposed to do with them?"

"Regene, here's what I want you to do. Get Canard Pars to join us, while Hixar will accompany Leif Recitativo back to the Elemental Nations through the old ELS ship that has the portal in it. Use the shuttle if you have to." Tieria ordered back. He floated over to another chamber where a body was encased in a cryogenic chamber, and pressed some codes in order to activate the body. "C'mon, Leif. Wake the hell up."

Leif Recitativo stirred from his slumber and opened his eyes. He gazed up to Tieria and stirred. "Tieria Erde...where am I?"

"You are in Celestial Being's base, remember? VEDA had to recall you every ten years after you've lived your life. Thanks to that, I am gonna be bringing the Revive and Anew type innovades." Tieria answered back as Hixar floated by with the Team Seven members. "Hixar, I told you to get them into the classroom."

"No dice, Tieria. You stated that the black haired boy that has the explosive necklace should be surveilled first before heading out to Orb." Hixar pointed at the scowling Sasuke with the explosive necklace. "It won't kill him right away, but the stress from the blood loss would kill him slowly. You may also want to put the explosive necklace on that blond kid too."

"OK, OK. Let's not get carried away. How about you and that Ribbons-type Innovade head back and recruit some more people. This place wouldn't have a lot of people to recruit because of the war." Tieria dismissed the two of three Innovades present with the Team Seven members and turned to Regene. "Regene Regetta, I will be going to Heliopolis to talk some sense into that wayward idiot."

"Will do." Regene left the chamber, leaving Tieria alone with VEDA. "When the conflict gets hot, we're sent in to soothe down the flames."

Tieria watches his twin brother flat away from the VEDA chamber and resumed his work. Regene smirked and turned back towards Naruto and Sakura, who are busy helping the personnel with the assembly of the new Gundams. Sasuke waited for Hixar to show up, so he could head off into the Orb Union and keep a close eye on the military facilities there. Sakura signed up to help the medical staff tend to anyone who either suffered injuries or came down with a fever or a flu. Naruto is busy reading books in the library, provided by Tieria himself once he showed him where it is.

"Wow, this history book is really something. The atrocities are so gruesome, I can't even describe how _sickening_ it is." Naruto commented at the pictures of civilians and old guerrilla members lying in the mass grave seen in the book. Tieria arrived at the library and nodded silently. "It said that they've been executed for opposing their government or ran afoul of the corrupt authorities there."

"That picture is taken a long ago. You should realize by now that no matter where you go, there will always be atrocities committed everywhere. Now that you've come here, I assume that you have some questions to ask me." Tieria started to speak. When Naruto nodded in agreement, the old Meister waited until he begins to ask. "Any questions?"

"Yeah. In my world, there is a curse. A curse known as the vicious cycles of war, bloodshed and hatred that never ends. How could this curse be broken? It's not like your world's suffering from the same kind of curse, isn't it?" Naruto asked curiously. To prove his point, he grabbed the book of the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja and showed it to the Innovade. "The story of a ninja who searches for an answer in breaking this curse...I was named after the character in the book."

"Interesting. This curse you've mentioned, is it really bad?" Tieria asked again.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, and every single day, we're constantly worried if we might be betrayed once again or what. It's not like there's love in my world anymore."

"You know, this world had its share of that curse you've mentioned. War, bloodshed and hatred. When we first intervened, the world was confused and mixed up over us. When they began to see our actions a lot more, they began to hate us. We were supposed to be the lambs sacrificed for the new world that is supposed to emerge from the ashes, and yet we've survived. Mostly because the plan was warped for someone's own selfish purposes. Eventually, we began to cooperate with the ESF during the ELS war and even reconciled. Two thousand years of peace was established. Is it true that after those years, humanity learns to hate each other once again?" Tieria wondered. He pocketed the book and turned back towards the blond. "I may not have the answers yet, but you will earn those answers should you work alongside us. Regene's just heading back towards your world in order to recruit more people."

"So do I get a chance to save my village from being destroyed?" Naruto asked back, not wanting to forsake Konoha while he is here in the Solar System.

"Yes, but the enemy will know that you're not here. He will have to come to this place and search for you. This is when Celestial Being's tested once again, and I am hoping for the eternal Meister to show up. The one whom you're descended from."

"Look, I'm not that skilled in this kind of warfare. I can only infiltrate and fight close range with my bare hands. Other than that, I sure wouldn't want to be labeled as a terrorist." Naruto admitted.

"I know, but that's the price you pay if you want to look for a path towards peace." Tieria replied back, and left him alone. "Even if you didn't join us, there will be a way for us to get you back. Whether you like it or not, you are connected to our organization one way or another."

* * *

**FLAY'S HOUSE**

* * *

Flay was busy talking to Sai about a random topic while Kira and Fon were listening to Miriallia and Tolle sing a duet on the karaoke. The way they sing together only made Fon a bit more nostalgic about the days when he used to spend some time with people like Eco, Chall and Sherilyn Hide, despite the fact that he's often chained up. Another memory emerged from his mind about how he had ended up in the cryogenic chamber that preserved his life for the same amount as the time of the Golden Peace of the ESF. Now, the ex-Fereshte Meister sighed in loneliness when he realized that all of his comrades are long dead.

"Robert? What's wrong?"

Fon turned around to see Flay alone on the backyard. "Nothing much, Ms. Flay."

"Just Flay would do." Flay insisted and Fon smiled. "You seem to be lonely."

"Yeah, some of my friends have died when those coordinators beat them." Fon lied quickly. He didn't want to tell her that his friends have died over two thousand years ago and that he's a man who is probably way older than even her father's forefather. "Now that the war is happening, I'm not sure if we can survive."

"Don't worry. Heliopolis will survive through the war. This is neutral territory." Flay answered back, but Fon snorted cynically.

"Neutral territories get dragged into any conflict one way or another. Look at Switzerland in the AD 2300's. They ended up as part of the AEU, then the ESF." Fon explained carefully.

"Oh yes, I've been taught AD History when I was younger. Even here in college, everyone has to take AD History in order to make sure that we don't make mistakes." the redhead replied in a wise tone. "My favorite subject is the one where Celestial Being makes its interventions."

Fon stopped for a moment and looked at her. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you know. Celestial Being and their armed interventions. In our history class, we learned a lot about their actions, and how it led into the formation of the ESF. Plus, we had to study the history of the A-LAWS' atrocities. I can't believe that they could do such a thing."

The ex-Fereshte Meister nodded in agreement. He was aware of what the Allster girl is talking about, because he was part of that history too. The A-LAWS' atrocities, he knew who was behind the A-LAWS and the Federation, and luckily, he met his end when Setsuna impaled the 0 Gundam with the Exia. Back then, he replaced Regene Regetta (who he still hated for acting like a human remote control with the Gundams) as the observer.

"I do hope that I could tutor you in AD History. I would love to tell you guys all about it." Fon offered. Flay smiled serenely and nodded as Sai came out into the backyard. "Hello, Sai. How's the karaoke?"

"Fine. Do you want to sing again?" Sai asked back. Fon shook his head and went back inside. "Anyways, there's someone who is standing in front of Flay's house. He has purple hair."

"Oh, joy." Fon groaned and accompanied the couple into the front porch, and sure enough, Tieria is standing in front of the porch. "Tieria Erde. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Excuse me, could I talk to him privately?" Tieria asked Flay. She nodded and left Fon alone with him. He grabbed the ex-Fereshte Meister and shook him. "Why the hell didn't you send us any info on the mobile suits inside the colony?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Every part of Morgenroette is guarded! I'm just taking my sweet time learning about this place as a college student." Fon answered back, but Tieria grumbled.

"You...are...so...stupid. Do you know what you have done? You've nearly exposed our organization when the Bloody Valentine War is currently happening right now, and you're going to mess things up!"

"It's not like we'll be dormant for much longer now. This colony is peaceful, and it's neutral. Sooner or later, it will get caught up in the conflict. We should intervene when the conflict happens." Fon insisted. "Besides, I'm learning a life lesson of my own now. How to maintain relationships with other people. Something you're lacking these days, for a guy who maintained VEDA for two millennia."

"Fon Spaak, for the last time, do NOT spill out our secrets-" Tieria was about to snap back when the door opened again and Kira was standing in the doorway. "Uh..."

"Robert, who's this guy? Your friend?" Kira asked curiously as he looked at Tieria and saw something familiar to him. "No way...he looks similar to him."

"Similar to who?" Tieria spoke softly to Kira.

"My best friend from when I was in Copernicus. His name is Athrun Zala." Kira replied back and Tieria gasped in surprise. "Oh, by the way, he told me about an incident a few years ago. There were these creepy things that nearly infected the PLANTs for some odd reason. Back then, Athrun was still in Copernicus and those metallic things have tracked us down at the Prep School."

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that a metallic thing nearly attacked your friend?" Tieria asked again. He turned to Fon and mouthed off. "I think the ELS has found the other seed. So that completes our search for Setsuna's descendants."

"Who?"

"Naruto Uzumaki and Athrun Zala."

"Hold on a sec. Who are you, and how do you know Robert?" Sai appeared a minute later along with Flay, Miriallia, Tolle and Kuzzey. "He's our friend."

"Really? I'll tell you more later on." Tieria turned around and left, but not before saying another word. "You will be having another new student at the school next week."

* * *

**CELESTIAL BEING CHAMBER**

* * *

Hixar and Leif Recitativo had arrived back in the CB base with a couple of people whom they have managed to recruit into working for Celestial Being that originated from Naruto's world. One of them was a blonde haired, emerald eyed girl whom Naruto had helped out just after his team returned from the Itachi Search mission, and the other was none other than Karin, whom Naruto was supposed to watch over.

"Geez, how the hell have you forgotten about me?" Karin asked annoyingly once she came across him. "You know, one of these days-"

"Shut up." Sakura snapped back angrily. "You were dragged here into this world like us for some odd reason. Naruto, Sasuke and I are stuck here, thanks to Naraku."

"Naraku...so that guy's responsible?" Tsuchigumo Hotaru asked curiously. Karin glared at the blonde heiress and scoffed.

"Yes, he is. Where the hell were you? In a molehill?"

"Who else is here? I wouldn't suggest asking Hotaru where she came from, Karin." Naruto asked Karin. The next thing he knew, there was a stranger who was offering a fist bump. "What are you doing here? I thought you're helping the Raikage with the war or something."

"How the hell is Akatsuki supposed to win their war if we're not here, right? Gotta keep your cool, fool." Kirabi chuckled and Naruto accepted the fist bump, to Karin's disgust. "Anyways, my team's back home and I'm here to explore some real rap."

Karin glared at the Hachibi container. "Don't you dare go there!"

"Oh, by the way, this is Tsuchigumo Hotaru. One of my friends." Naruto introduced Kirabi to Hotaru, but Tieria interrupted their introductions.

"This isn't the time for this stuff. Naruto, you and your pink haired Feldt Grace wannabe will head off into Heliopolis as students. I'm not sure about your roles yet, but rest assured that I will find you two a perfect role." Tieria turned to Hotaru and Karin. "Anyways-"

"Tieria Erde, have you forgotten about us? We're supposed to start assigning roles to the new recruits." another voice called out, interrupting everyone's conversation. They turned around and saw another red haired woman floating towards them with a feral smile on her face. To the Innovades and Fon Spaak if he was here, the newcomer does look like a certain pilot of a Gundam Throne that met its end at the hands of a vengeful girl piloting a mobile armor, and had feelings for a certain former pilot of the 0 Raiser. "Hello, everyone. I'm Reena Carmine, and I'm your new tactical forecaster."

"What's a tactical forecaster? Shikamaru would have made a better tactician than the girl who nearly resembled that woman who tried to steal a kiss from me." Naruto shivered as Sakura glared at him.

"You mean the woman who literally sucked your chakra out of you? I was there with Sai, remember? Your eyes were blank looking." she spoke back, but Reena cleared her throat.

"Anyways, I will be leading this new outfit. Some of you should know that I am descended not only from the scientist who identified the ELS as the aliens that nearly infected half of humanity and married another scientist in the end, but also the ancestor who contributed to the birth of the Trinity siblings." the older redhead replied back. She turned towards Tieria and smiled. "Do we have the number of people slotted in the Meister roster?"

"Well, there's us. The Innovade group who will be conducting the interventions everywhere." Tieria answered back.

Sakura raised her hand. "Why can't I go with Naruto? He's gonna need someone who could restrain him if he gets too crazy about anything. Believe me, you may want to keep him away from the women's bathroom."

"C'mon! I don't peek anymore. Well, I still have the urge to see some-" Naruto began, but Sakura's glare had silenced him for a bit. "Tieria Erde, I've decided not to join Celestial Being. The people who came to this world with me can manage without your help."

"Naruto's right. I sure wouldn't want to be subjected to a lot of retribution if I was captured." Karin replied back in agreement. "No offense, but I'm not gonna get used to being hated any longer."

"I will have to agree with the redhead here. There's so much to learn about this part of the world that joining Celestial Being would impede our learning experience." Sakura admitted as Hotaru and Kirabi nodded.

Tieria sighed in disappointment and nodded. Another member placed the explosive necklace on their necks. "Fine, if that's the way you guys chose, then so be it. Be warned though, I will have to place the explosive necklaces on your necks in case you spill our secrets."

"No need to worry. We shinobi are good at keeping secrets." Hotaru assured the purple haired Innovade. She looked at what appeared to be a harmless necklace. They arrived at a dock where a shuttle is waiting for them. "Well, here it is."

"I do hope that you will all change your minds one day." Tieria admitted as the shinobi group boarded the shuttle and began to leave. "The question is, when will they come back?"

* * *

**HELIOPOLIS COLLEGE**

* * *

"Class, we have a couple of exchange students from the Oceania Union today." the Heliopolis teacher told the class as Naruto, Sakura, Karin and Hotaru waved nervously. "I trust that you'll find your seats."

Kira, Tolle and Sai were puzzled at why their class is getting another set of new students, just a week after Fon Spaak had signed up for his classes. Miriallia and Flay were eyeing the blond jinchuuriki while Fon raised his eyebrows in curiosity. Earlier on, he received a note from Tieria about a group of teenagers who declined to join Celestial Being. He also warned Fon that they're wearing an explosive necklace on their necks if they spill out their secrets.

"Hi." Naruto whispered to Fon and sat down in his chair. "What's this class?"

"AD history. Did you buy the textbooks?" Fon whispered back. Naruto shook his head. "Fine, I'll share my book with you."

"We don't have the textbooks too." Karin whispered to Fon.

The teacher started to give out his lecture on the subject of the Solar Wars as Tolle slumped into the desk, trying his hardest to avoid sleeping and risk getting another detention. Sai and Kira jotted down some notes on their notebook and Naruto just sat there, not sure of what he should do. Fon on the other hand, he was just reading his textbook and listening to the lecture at the same time. Unknown to all of the students present, Fon had actually experienced the Solar Wars and Celestial Being's interventions for two separate reasons. The first one, he participated in the Solar Wars as a former AEU pilot, and he also worked for Celestial Being's branch group, Fereshte. Of course, no one would believe that he actually lived through those parts of the AD history.

"Geez, this is old news to me. Like, the teacher has got it wrong about the event in which the Union's attempt to invade Iceland wasn't correct. The AEU grabbed it before the Union had even left Canada for Greenland." Fon muttered darkly.

"...and the conflict in the Middle East in addition to the Solar Wars had only made things worse as people are dragged into conflicts even when they are supposed to have happy childhoods. Which war in the Middle East is it when those kids were forcibly recruited, brainwashed and trained as child guerrillas fighting in the name of God?" the professor asked. Fon raised his hand. "Robert?"

"The Krugis-Azadistani War of AD 2301. The former Kingdom of Azadistan invaded the Republic of Krugis in an effort to annex the entire country. In addition, the KPSA was formed to fight off the occupying Azadistani forces." Fon answered back, to everyone's utter surprise. "Not only that, the conflict in the Middle East is the result of the shortage of oil."

"Correct. Even though the conflict in the Middle East was resolved in AD 2303, it wouldn't be long until a group of private armed organization decides to take the world by the storm." the teacher begins to hand out papers to every student present. "For your assignment, you will write an essay about Celestial Being's interventions and its effects. This topic will be covered in class tomorrow."

A few hours after the classes are over, Naruto joined Fon in their study sessions and begins to ask questions regarding his lessons. Kira and Tolle rejoined the other two new students as Fon begins to lecture Naruto in his own version of the AD history while he gazes at the physics textbook. The ex-Fereshte Meister had a low opinion regarding the hostiry textbooks produced in this era, in light of the current conflict.

"Looks like the Earth Alliance's version of the AD history is so screwed up. Look at this, they've tried to whitewash the A-LAWS massacre and even made a small mention of the ELS War. The Orb Union has a policy of teaching the accurate side of history, which portrayed the events with authencity. The PLANT edition only makes comments about how the ESF is a tyrannical organization and Celestial Being were a group of heroes who fight against the Federation's tyranny. Three sides could do away with the truth and teach false crap like these." Fon told Naruto as he looked at the AD History textbook. "Always search deeper if you want to learn real history. The official ones can be distorted."

"OK." Naruto replied back, but Flay sat beside him. "Uh...hi?"

"So you're Naruto...as in the ramen flavor?" Flay asked.

"Well, I eat ramen a lot." Naruto admitted. "What's your name anyways, and how do you know me?"

"I'm Flay Allster. I normally hang out with the other girls, but today I would like to get to know you some more. For starters, I was in the same history and physics class as you and Robert are. Here's the scoop: Sai Argyle and I are engaged, and Kira Yamato has a crush on me." Flay spoke back. She pointed at Kira, who's carrying a bunch of books. "He's the one who's getting the most homework out of all of us in the school."

"Yeah. That kid could use some breather. He looks like he's on the verge of a mental collapse." Fon tapped Naruto in the shoulder and gestured for him to get up and come with him. "Well, Naruto and I have to get going now."

"Bye."

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked Naruto, who shrugged. She narrowed her eyes when he was lost in thought. "Don't even think about it."

"I'm not. Sakura, we're just students in this unknown colony and relaxing our asses while our comrades back home are either fighting, wounded, or dead." Naruto replied back. Fon tapped him on his shoulder and beckoned for the blond to come with him. "You'll have to come with me too, Sakura."

"Come with me. There's something I need to tell you and show you." Fon told Naruto as they headed off in another corridor. "We are all college students here, but we have another motive inside this colony."

"We? We never joined Celestial Being."

"We're here to see some new mobile suits. I will show you a mobile suit that was notorious for the A-LAWS conflict." Fon arrived at an unknown hangar and pressed some buttons. To his frustration, the door didn't budge.

"Should we wait?" the blond jinchuuriki wondered, but Fon shook his head.

"Hell no. By the time we wait, we'd be caught. This is the only time for us to enter this place without getting caught." the ex-Fereshte Meister answered back. Both agents paused for a moment as a Morgenroette worker walks towards the door from the other side of the hangar. "Hello there."

"Do you guys have any IDs? What are you two doing here?" the mechanic asked suspiciously. Fon chuckled and explained.

"You see, my friend and I are in a middle of an assignment for school and our task is to correct some defects in the OS. You can say we're also involved in this project too, having enrolled in the Heliopolis Technical College, currently under Morgenroette jurisdiction." the mechanic found it hard to believe Fon's tall tale. Yet, he wasn't surprised at the amount of students taking part in the project themselves.

"Oh, all right. Just one peek, and that's it." the mechanic told the two agents and let them inside. When Naruto entered the hangar first, he was led by another mechanic into a giant case where a mobile suit is being constructed. The head looked different from the GINNs that ZAFT fielded or even the Gundams of Celestial Being, in a way that the scientists had cleverly concealed the eyes and the face, and what appeared to be V-Fins were shaped like a unicorn's head. On its back were a set of vertical thrusters and a GN Tau Drive on its back with a smaller multi-vector thruster on its back. For the weapons, it carries a beam rifle and two GN Beam Katana swords. "This is a revolutionary machine that will be used in the future. We haven't gotten the name of this thing yet."

"Naruto, that is the machine synonymous with the A-LAWS. GNX-704T/CE Ahead Smultron. The regular Aheads had a horizontal thruster, but it carries a deadly weapon that is the workhorse of all atrocities committed." Fon answered back. Naruto gasped in admiration at the sight of the mobile suit.

"So that's a...robotic thing. What do you call it?" Naruto asked back.

Fon grinned and clapped his hand on Naruto's shoulders. "A mobile suit."

* * *

Well, this chapter is the last chapter of the pre-SEED arc series, and the next chapter will be the start of the actual SEED series. Please note that some scenes may be different from the Shippuden Next version in terms of pairings and battle scenes. The most noticeable difference will be that Hotaru and Karin will replace the filler Sayla clones. (ie: Koyuki and Shion) Sakura makes her first full debut as a heroine in this fic, and Sasuke will have a role later on. Please note that Fon's real name will be used when he's with Kira and friends, and when he's with Celestial Being, he will use his code name.

As for 00, we're introduced to a descendant of Billy Katagiri and Meena Carmine. Her name's Reena Carmine, and she will be a mix of Nena and Sumeragi. If you've watched the movie, then you should know whom I am referring to. On a plus note, Gundam 00 the Movie: The Awakening of the Trailblazer will arrive on Christmas Day, so expect Gundam 00V: Rising Angel to be updated in the new year, should I get the full info on the movie and actually watched it.

You guys should guess the reference that I've made in the new mobile suit's face and V-Fins packed in a horn. It's actually a tribute to Unicorn Gundam in normal mode. The new Gundam in its Trans-Am mode will be like the normal 00 Gundams, but the face will be revealed.

Finally, I would like to ask you readers on this question. If you want, you can PM me or give me a review on this, but how do you think Gundam SEED should have gone, plot wise? The same with Destiny too, since I may want to tap into the bad side of SEED and remold it in whatever you readers would want to see it. Of course, Destiny will be remolded as well, and a final series will be made. It's supposed to be the representation of Gundam SEED Eternity, or the Gundam SEED Movie that was supposed to be made a long time ago, if Morosawa wasn't struck down with cancer. This pseudo-Eternity would be my CE version of Char's Counterattack, Endless Waltz, Unicorn and Awakening of the Trailblazer.

One more note, Gundam Musou 3 is already out! I plan on getting that game sometime soon in 2011, but the main issue would be getting the units considered DownLoadableContent.

This is a revamped version of chapter three. I know it's not really redone, but there's a lot of things I had to clear out before replacing the regular chapter three with this.


	6. Reality Check

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam SEED and Gundam 00.**_

Note: This fic will use the world map from the SEED series with some references to the three superpowers of the AD era. This is yet another one of the revamped chapters in order to allow Naruto to get the Ahead instead of a Gundam.

* * *

**_Turn Six: Reality Check_**

Inside a Nazca-class warship, five ZAFT red coats were gathered around the bridge as a blond masked man starts to brief them on the new mission they will carry out. So far, the Bloody Valentine War was in a state of a stalemate as neither the Earth Forces or the ZAFT militia could break the deadlock they desperately needed. The two hostile sides are also oblivious to the fact that they have been designated as legit targets for an organization long rumored to have been extinct. Back to the Nazca-class warship, Rau Le Creuset points at the holographic image of Heliopolis as the Red Coats and Green Coats heard the details.

"Inside the colony of Heliopolis, lies a bunch of prototype mobile suits that the Earth Forces had secretly built. Luckily, there is one spy inside who smuggled this photo to us." Le Creuset turned to another image of a mobile suit's face. "Now then, the purpose of this mission is to capture these suits before they are moved to a more secure location."

A Green Coat named Miguel Aiman raised his hand up. "How are they supposed to complete the mission when there are Earth Forces personnel inside?"

"This is where your squad will come in. You will distract the enemy by targeting legitimate areas long enough for the commandos to steal the suits. In case even one suit has escaped capture, make sure that it's destroyed." Le Creuset ordered. "Dismissed."

"Commander-"

"Don't be so disappointed, Ades." Le Creuset replied back once the last Green Coat had left the bridge. "I know that the machines won't be tampered with when they're captured."

"I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried that we might be too late to hear from the Council regarding this mission." Ades answered back. "You know, a while ago. One of our radars had been jammed for no apparent reason at all. I had the mechanics fix the problem, but they could not find the source of the problem. A minute later, the radar is working again."

Le Creuset didn't like what he heard. "You don't think-"

"That those guys might come back to the stage after a two millenia hiatus, right?" Ades wondered. "Still-"

"It will be too late. My sixth sense tells me that there will be more surprises. Nasty surpises, in fact. If we allow the Earth Forces to keep those mobile suits, then we'd pay for our mistakes with out lives. It is imperative that we seize those suits. It's just like what I told the youngsters back before they left."

"You're right in that matter, Commander. There is something hauntingly familiar about the picture of a mobile suit. It looks like the ones in our history textbooks." Ades looked at the picture of a mobile suit's head.

"It is a sign from the old AD history of the Earth. You know, the events in which mobile suits powered with solar furnaces have dominated the skies." Le Creuset smirked and looked towards the screen.

Once the Red Coats had flated over to the shuttle in their flight suits, the shuttles took off from the Nazca-class warship and flew in the direction of the colony. Athrun Zala clutched at his issued rifle and looked down on the ground as his teammates are joking about Naturals in particular. One of the team members who didn't join in the joke was a green haired boy named Nicol Amalfi.

"Athrun...Athrun." Nicol repeated as Athrun was shaken off. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just concerned about the mission, that's all." Athrun answered back. Just outside the shuttle, a GINN watches by as the ZAFT ships move closer to the colony and flew away from it. No ZAFT soldier could have predicted that the GINN in question wasn't piloted by a ZAFT soldier at all.

"We're almost at the colony, so you two have to look lively. We can't do this if you're both napping." Yzak Joule told his other two teammates. Once the shuttle has stopped inside the colony, the Red Coats begin to infiltrate the entrance. "Be careful with the sensors. They might trigger an alarm."

* * *

**HELIOPOLIS**

**JANUARY 23, C.E. 71**

* * *

Three students sat down in a park bench while going over their homework from today's lecture. Fon was watching the news of the Battle of Kaohsiung on Kira's laptop while Naruto buried his head inside his arms and slept. The reporter stands in front of the war torn city of Kaohshiung as the GINNs can be seen in the background. From what the reporter has told the news staff, the fighting started a few days ago, though by now the city has fallen into ZAFT's control.

"What a bore. That news is stale." Fon grumbled. He sighed as he picked up his cell and answered. "Hello?"

"Fon, we're going to start our debut soon. If the ZAFT forces attack, I want you to head off into the secret location where those things are stored. Get Naruto inside the suit and make sure that you both don't get caught up in the fighting." Tieria ordered. "Meanwhile, the main Meisters will intervene in both Kaohsiung and inside the colony."

"Yes, just be careful when you fire the stupid bazooka." Fon answered back, to Tieria's irritation. "Fon Spaak out."

"Hey, guys."

"Tolle, Miriallia." Kira called out to the two newcomers as they sat down in the bench. "What is it this time?"

"Professor Kato is looking for you. Something about Morgenroette." Tolle answered back.

Kira groaned. "I'm not that surprised. He's been giving me so much homework, I haven't even finished the ones he gave me last week. Must be something important."

"Important is right. Even I was given a lot of homework too. Besides, the history homework is getting worse, with the constant map changes." Fon pointed at his own pile of assingments. He pointed at the laptop and showed the news. "We were just watching the news about Kaohsiung, and that is already old news."

"You're right. ZAFT has already taken that city." Miriallia observed. "I wonder if we might be attacked so soon."

"Ah, c'mon! We're neutral. There's no way we could get caught up in the conflict." Tolle answered back, but Fon shook his head. "Must you be such a killjoy?"

"Neutral or not, we will be dragged into this conflict. We can't just stand by and think that it will not happen to us. My friend had told this kid who did something stupid, and I quote, 'Ignoring reality is an inverted malice.'" Fon told the three friends present. He kicked Naruto awake, causing him to cry in pain. "Time to wake up, kiddo."

"Hey! I didn't get enough sleep because of the assignments!" Naruto protested, but Fon grabbed him by the shoulders. "Whoa!"

"Naruto, this isn't the time to be snoozing! Who knows if we might have to run so soon." Fon told the young jinchuuriki. He watches Kira space out when the toy robot bird flew by and Tolle crept closer. "Kira, we have to go now."

The students left the park and walked into the college grounds as Flay and her friends were busy talking amongst themselves. It was a normal scene for the non-native Heliopolis students to see Flay gossiping with the other students, but not for two students who had a different role to play. Tolle teases Kira about Flay while Miriallia waved them over as the two girls walked towards them.

"Give it up, Kira. You like her, right?"

"Didn't you hear? Flay got a letter from Sai Argyle. Isn't that romantic?" the girl known as Jessica told everyone.

"Yeah, it is." Fon chuckled and thought about Sai being a lovesick puppy. The image was too funny to create as he snickered to himself. "Anyways-"

"Excuse me. Could we pass?" a dark haired woman asked the students as they moved aside. "Thank you."

"There's our ride. I'm driving this time." Fon called out as the car approaches them with a valet driving it. "Thanks, I'll take it from here."

The dark haired woman and her assistant watches the students go on in their daily lives with some mixed emotions. A driver escorts them into another car and drives off in the direction of the Morgenroette company as she begins to look around the colony.

"This place is so beautiful, and those kids are enjoying themselves." Natarle Badguirel comments on the carefree lives of the students. "Yet some of them are dragged into the war as young as fifteen years old."

"Reminds me of a tale we used to hear." Arnold Newmann replied back cynically.

"What tale?"

"The tale of a man who brainwashes kids, forces them to kill their parents and commit atrocities in the name of God. I know this story too, since my friends from Ireland told me about an incident in which a kid smuggles a bomb and blows up a marketplace." Newmann replied back. Natarle winced at what Newmann has told her. "Seriously, the AD events weren't just chaotic enough. Add in a couple of global armed interventionists and you have a living cauldron that could blow up."

* * *

**OUTSIDE HELIOPOLIS**

* * *

A warship the size of a Nazca-class destroyer approaches the colony from the opposite direction. Two containers opened as the mobile suits hidden inside starts to deploy itself closer to the colony and surveil the ZAFT ships that are also close to the colony. The other two mobile suits have already left the ship and are on their way into Earth, presumably to creat some sort of chaos there. No one knows what the machines look like, because they have the same kind of face as the mobile suit Fon showed Naruto inside.

"I'm just glad that we're doing this once again." Regene told Tieria as the new mobile suits hid inside a meteorite. "Just like the good old days."

"Regene, you weren't one of the original Meisters. So don't talk as if you knew what you were doing." Tieria snapped back. "We're just outside the colony and we're going to wait for Fon to show up. I told him not to come too early."

"Just as the original Meisters have changed the world, we must steer it back to its original path. Tieria, it looks like the world is ready to witness Celestial Being once again." Regene pushed his new Gundam beside another meteorite. "How long shall we wait?"

"Until the ZAFT forces attack. Meanwhile, Hixar and Leif are on their way into Kaohsiung. They should put on a perfect display of what the Naturals and Coordinators who take up arms should expect when they face us." Tieria replied back. The warship moves closer towards the two suits as it put up a cloak that resembles the new Mirage Colloid feature.

A minute later, a CIC reports to Tieria. "Tieria, we have three GINNs entering the colony. I don't know what they're up to, but they don't seem to be friendly."

"They're not friendly, Athena. Anyways, can you get Karin or Hotaru on the line?" Tieria ordered as the female CIC of Greek origin nodded and Karin appeared on the screen. "Karin, we're going in as soon as they start attacking."

"Roger that. There should be five mobile suits inside. Is that what they're called?" Karin said.

Tieria nodded and sighed in irritation. "Geez, didn't they tell you about the suits?"

"No, we're too busy working in the-"

"Just stop and get back to what you were doing." Tieria ordered and the link was cut off. "Now then, shall we wait a bit longer?"

Meanwhile, the other two mobile suits that had been deployed earlier had started their descent towards Earth. Hixar and Leif Recitativo split up as the new mobile suit that is supposed to be the new version of the old Exia remained airborne while the new version of the Dynames hides at the coast, away from the prying ZAFT eyes, or that of the Earth Forces naval fleet.

"Gundam Dagonet, ready to engage target on order."

"Gundam Diabound, standing by." Leif reported. He paused for a while as an attack order came in. "We're good to go."

"Sir, our radars have been jammed for some unknown reason." one radar officer told his superior, a female ship captain. The Earth Forces fleet stationed just outside the coase of Fujian had been in a constant standoff against the ZAFT occupation force now inside the city of Kaohsiung. "We don't know where it's coming from."

"Make sure that you get enough jets and Skygraspers patrolling the seas." the female ship captain ordered. Some of the destroyers that had sailed ahead of the main fleet were suddenly sunk by a beam shot from inside the harbor. "We're under attack!"

"Is it ZAFT?" another crew asked fearfully. Another closer look at the beam, and the crew begins to shake. "Pink beams..."

"ZAFT has green beams. Pink beams...what group of military is it?" the ship captain wondered. Just then one of the CICs detected something over the bridge as the Exia offspring starts to slice a couple of GINNs down. "We're getting a mixed response. It seems that ZAFT's under attack by another funny looking mobile suit."

"Funny looking mobile suit?" another beam had hit the bridge of a cruiser as it was blown up and sunk with all hands.

"All fleets, retreat from this area at once! We can't afford to lose one more warship to a group of terrorists." the ship captain ordered as the fleet begins to retreat, but they're still withstanding the bombardment from the now revealed Gundam Dagonet.

"Ma'am, we've got the image of a mobile suit. It certainly doesn't look like a GINN to me." the CIC reported, but a missile had struck the carrier at the side. "The carrier's starboard has sustained thirty percent damage on the starboard side. I don't know how much more are we going to stay afloat until we've reached Hong Kong."

Some of the Skygraspers and regular fighter jets have been shot down on their way back into their carriers by the Dagonet as the Gundam Diabound emerged from the rubble of the ZAFT base, while the remaining GINNs have been cut down to pieces. The two Gundams with masked faces start to retreat away from Kaohsiung and back into outer space, waiting for their comrades to finish up their portion of the mission given to them.

* * *

**HELIOPOLIS**

* * *

By the time Naruto and the other students have arrived inside the Heliopolis classroom, Sai Argyle and two other students were busy studying the problems facing the figure of what appeared to be a mobile suit's inner skeleton structure. A mysterious guest stood beside the door, waiting for the professor to show up. Fon sat down in the chair while Kira drops his books on the table and begins to fix the problem.

"Great timing. Just when I thought we'd give up fixing the problem." Sai Argyle spoke to Kira and Naruto. "Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome." Kira answered back. He looked at the guest and asked back. "Who's he?"

"Apparently, he's the professor's guest. He's just waiting for him." Sai replied back. Fon heard his phone ring and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Fon, it's time. Get to the location we've discussed earlier and start working." Tieria ordered briskly from the other side of the line. "Apparently, we are about to go on a confrontation with the ZAFT forces inside. We've detected three Nazca-class warships. One of them is the famed Vesalius, led by a Rau Le Creuset guy or something."

"Oh, geez. You've picked a perfect time to start fighting that guy." Fon answered back sarcastically. Suddenly, the ground starts to shake mildly. "They're here already."

"Just get over there!"

Fon sighed and hung up the phone as Naruto and the rest of the students paused. Once he opens the door, the rest of the staff and students alike begin to evacuate from the building through the stairway, but the mystery guest walks off in another direction. Kira also begins to follow Fon, Naruto and the guest in the same direction, but away from his friends, who are heading in a different direction.

"Wait up!" Kira called out to them. "Hold on a minute! The shelter is that way!"

"Believe me, we would like to go towards the shelter and evacuate this colony, but right now, we're on a mission. I'll tell you once we enter a warship. Just follow us if you want to live." Fon told Kira and continued to lead him through the hallway. "With luck, we should start our own mission."

In a nearby hill, five ZAFT red coated commandos perched on the top, overlooking the road filled with military trucks and three prototype mobile suits about to be transported into a warship hidden in the factory. Yzak Joule looks through the binoculars while Dearka and Nicol keep watch for any unwary Earth Forces patrol units. Athrun and Rusty Mackenzie watch as the GINNs start attacking the artillery trucks.

"There's the motherload. Typical of them, Naturals." Yzak sneered.

"Prod them out of their hideyholes, and they'll come out running. I like that." Dearka chuckled. He waited for Rusty and Athrun to give a signal. "Let's get going."

Athrun fired the first shot from his rifle, indicating that their raid is about to begin. One commando threw a grenade into the shaft, killing the guard and a worker in the process. A few missile trucks intervened to protect the prototypes, but three more GINNs arrived to take the trucks out with their rifles. While the GINNs were engaging the Earth Forces defenders on the road, Tieria and Regene inside the new Gundams Hermos and Tristan entered the colony, waiting for Fon to show up in the Astrea.

"We've found it. Who would have thought the prototypes are like Gundams in appearance?" Regene asked curiously, but Tieria was livid. "Tieria?"

"This is...blasphemous! Who the hell built a mobile suit that looks like a Gundam? Someone has to pay." Tieria snapped angrily. To make matters worse, the three prototype suits start to activate, indicating that three of the ZAFT commandos have captured it. "Someone's already captured the machines?"

Yzak gave out the order while Dearka and Nicol reconfigured the OS in their captured suits. "Make sure that you destroy the equipment we can't take."

"Ok. Updater activated. How's yours, Nicol?' Dearka asked.

"I'm almost done." Nicol answered back. "Where's Athrun and Rusty?"

"Inside the factory. They should take the last two machines. Our priority is to take these suits back to Commander Creuset before they get damaged." Yzak ordered. Once the new Duel, Buster and Blitz stood up and starts to leave. However, Yzak spotted the Gundam Hermos and clashed blades with the beam sabers. "What kind of mobile suit is that? Its face...I can't tell what kind of face is it!"

"Yzak, look at the cones." Nicol pointed at what appeared to be a solar furnace on the back of the Hermos. "It can't be."

"What's the matter? Ah, man! We can't even talk to each other!" Dearka complained upon finding out that his communication equipment isn't working. "Our radar's also jammed!"

"Just get the hell out of here!" Yzak yelled and kicked the Hermos aside, but the Tristan tranformed into its mobile armor mode and fired a salvo of beams into the Duel. "Move out!"

Meanwhile, Kira and Fon followed the mystery guest through the deserted hallway and into the interior of the factory. Earlier on, the guest's hat flew off, revealing a girl beneath the disguise. As they were looking for a shelter, the guest stumbled at the sight of three humanoid robots. Fon chuckled as the sight of his old Astrea lay inside the factory, unharmed. Unfortunately, a few more Morgenroette workers are fighting off a couple of ZAFt commandos attempting to capture the last two suits.

"I'm gonna try to capture the red suit." Rusty told Athrun, but a bullet had struck him at the lung.

"Rusty!" Ahtrun gave out a war cry as he fired his rifle, killing the soldier who killed Rusty. When he ran out bullets, he grabbed a knife and lunged at a young woman when Kira and Fon jumped into the fray, allowing Naruto to flee into another section of the factory. "Kira?"

"Athrun?" Kira wondered. Athrun found himself jumping away from the woman as she aimed her gun at him, forcing the young ZAFT redcoat to take the other suit. The woman shoved Kira into the last suit as Fon boarded inside the Astrea. "Robert!"

"Look at that. It seems that Erde boy's right about Seiei's descendant being a ZAFT soldier after all." Fon activated the controls of the Astrea as it stood up.

Meanwhile, Naruto looked around frantically for any available shelters left. A missile from a nearby GINN had struck the nearest entrance to the command post where two Earth Forces officers were killed in the same spot they once stood. A couple of files flew out of their bags as one of the manuals landed right at his lap. Naruto opened up the manual and looked at the picture of what appeared to be a two thousand year old Ahead. Naruto realized that the picture he's seeing is similar to the mobile suit he and Fon saw back in the hidden factory.

"This is...some sort of manual." Naruto whispered to himself. He entered the hangar where the winged mobile suit is in. "That's it. The mobile suit from the AD wars."

He entered the mobile suit's cockpit and pressed some buttons in sheer curiosity. Almost at once, the machine itself starts to work as Naruto continues to read the manual and press some more buttons. The hangar door opened slowly as the new mobile suit stood up and walked towards the exit. Naruto was nervous about what he is supposed to do as the mobile suit's presence had triggered a response from two GINNs who arrived at the hidden hangar.

"Weapons...weapons...where are they?" he asked himself as he continued to flip the pages until a screen appeared with some complicated features. He fired the salvo of vulcan guns at the GINNs, but the beams themselves have no effect. "No effect...this is not good. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"That mobile suit. It's not that strong enough." a GINN pilot grinned and swung the sword towards the mobile suit. "Looks like that mobile suit's trembling before me."

Naruto grabbed a keyboard and starts to type in some modifications he remembered from his training back in his classes. A couple of complicated software programs appeared on the screen while the OS begins to appear on the screen with the words G.U.N.D.A.M. and the name of the mobile suit, **_'GNX-704T/CE Ahead Smultron'_**. Another GINN snuck up behind the new Gundam as the jinchuuriki turned around and kneed it before he turned its attention to the GINN in front of him and punched it.

"What's this? Looks like a giant chakra stick. Name, GN Beam Katana? Complicated name." Naruto muttered as he grabbed the beam katana from the shoulder and lunged at the GINN, slicing it into two. The explosion forced the Ahead to cover itself, causing it to fall into the ground. "Maybe if I stab it in the cockpit, I won't have any trouble shielding myself."

"That mobile suit...is it what I think it is? No doubt about it, the machine that caused a lot of death." the GINN pilot grabbed the rifle and fired it point blank. "There's no way I'll let you out alive."

"Not yet! I'm not done yet." Naruto trembled and continued to move the levers back and forth as the Ahead struggled to keep itself up, especially when the GINN is about to grab the sword and plunge it into the cockpit. The GAhead sidestepped and grabbed the blade before giving the GINN a punch in the head. Naruto now had the chance to defend himself with a physical sword, as well as the GN Beam Saber. "This sword is not the typical weapon."

"Bastard...you'll pay!" the GINN pilot snarled back and attempted to kick the beam katana out of the Ahead's hands, but it was distracted by the incoming Astrea. This time, the said pilot is able to recognize the Astrea's face. "The machine from the AD era. I thought they were destroyed."

Fon chuckled and grinned as he opened up a transmission to the pilot. "Well, _most_ machines were destroyed in the Reconstruction War when the ELS invaded the Earth and detonated anything that has a solar furnace to stall the ESF's brutal successor from using its power to choke off and kill the PLANT population. You can say we've now returned to the stage."

"Naturals...you think you're so high and mighty. You're the reason why we had to fight. You wanted us dead when we refused to obey." the pilot told Fon, but the Astrea grabbed its own beam saber and stabbed it in the cockpit. "Natural vermin."

"Let me remind you that we're not naturals. Just humans." Fon starts to fly away as the GINN exploded. The Astrea turned its attention towards the last non-GN suit activated in battle against a GINN piloted by Miguel Aiman. "So that's the mobile suit that would have resembled the original 0 Gundam."

Naruto panted and spotted the pseudo-Gundam engaged in a battle with another GINN. Picking up the GN Beam Katana, the Ahead moved away from the factory and into the open as the GINN piloted by Miguel continued to harrass the Strike. Kira on the other hand, he and the woman who dragged inside the newly dubbed Strike Gundam fared no better. With an outdated OS, the Strike seemed to be a sitting duck for Miguel's GINN. It was not until Kira had taken the reins of the Strike's controls that it started to fight better.

"What kind of OS is this? It's not that useful at all." Kira noticed.

The woman answered. "We haven't installed a proper OS yet."

"No wonder. Here, let me do this." Kira spoke back. He begins to type through the keyboard as the OS itself begins to reconfigure, the same way as the OS from the Gawain had been configured. The only difference is that the Strike didn't have the luxury of having a solar furnace as an engine. "Weapons?" He noticed that there were only a few weapons available. "Only the Armor Schneider knives?"

"The Strike has three packs, but we haven't deployed them yet." the woman replied back. Kira pressed the buttons and grabbed the knives as he stabbed the GINN with those knives. He was clueless about why the GINN's pilot would eject from his suit until she gasped and yelled.

"Get away from there! That GINN's about to blow up!" Luckily, the Strike is unscatched from the force of the GINN's destruction.

A while later, the injured woman regained consciousness and was horrified to see two students tinker around with the mobile suit, despite Sai's warnings. Fon arrived in the Astrea as she fired her gun in the air, forcing Kuzzey and Tolle to get away from the suit and to stand with the others. At the same time, Naruto is nowhere to be seen.

"Move away from that thing!" she barked. "Look, I appreciate your efforts in saving me, but there is something you've all shouldn't have seen."

"Like that suit is not the only thing they haven't seen. Look at my machine, it's similar to that suit beside the Astrea." Fon smirked as he climbed down from the Astrea's cockpit. "We'll gladly cooperate with you, if that is what you want."

"Good. Then I suggest that you people cooperate with me." she begins to introduce herself and compels the students to do the same. "I'm Murrue Ramius, an officer in the Earth Forces. I will be your mentor until we get to the appropriate authorities."

"Why would they attack us?" Kuzzey protested.

"We're neutral!" Sai insisted, but Murrue fired her gun in the air to silence them.

"You guys may think that you're neutral and the war won't touch this place, but the reality is that we are in the middle of a war. PLANT and Earth, Natural and Coordinator." Murrue explained rashly. "What's your name, mister?" She looked at Fon.

"Robert Stad Jr. at your service. Although I should explain more when I get inside a warship." Fon saluted to Murrue and grinned. "I'm just a freelancer who's interested in this place."

Murrue found that hard to believe at first, but a closer look at the Astrea had reminded her of her classes back in military training. "That machine. It looks like the mobile suit from the AD era. Are you by any chance-"

"Like I said, I will explain it to you in a more, confidential matter later on." Fon insisted, not wanting to reveal to his new friends that he belonged to an organization that is supposed to be extinct. "We'd better get some extra equipment for the pseudo-Gundam."

"Gundam...did you just say Gundam?" Murrue asked back, but Fon went back to the Astrea and helped the Heliopolis students in seeking some extra equipment for the Strike.

As the Strike is undergoing some partial repairs and the Astrea stood guard, Fon noticed two other mobile suits come down into Heliopolis, much to his displeasure. The new Gundams Hermos and Tristan stood beside the Astrea as Regene and Tieria climbed down from their machines, but they did not take off their helmets. Fon waved them over as Murrue and the Heliopolis students watched them interact with each other.

"We heard about what happened earlier." Tieria told Fon, but he gestured wildly.

"And I thought you're the guy who is supposed to remind me not to divulge our secrets? What the hell is the matter with you?" the ex-Fereshte pilot snapped back. "No time to talk about this."

Outside the colony, a Moebius Armor started to enter the colony with a white CGUE trailing it from behind. Mu and Le Creuset waited until one of them fired the first shot in their heated battle, but their spatial awareness had detected each other, thereby losing the element of surprise. To a member of Celestial Being, the idea of a spatial awareness is the same as a set of quantum brainwaves.

"Can you sense me the way I can sense you, Mu La Flaga?" Le Creuset called out.

"Is that you, Creuset?" Mu asked. The CGUE had shot down one of the Moebius' gun barrels. "What are you doing here?"

"You're always getting in my way, Mu La Flaga! Indeed, you have the same opinion as me!" the masked ZAFT commander continued to chase the Moebius, now entering Heliopolis. At the same, a white warship appeared out of the hidden factory as its beam guns erupted. "A new warship?"

"What are those?" Mu asked curiously as he spotted two mobile suits moving towards him from the ground. To his shock, the two mobile suits that joined the fray were firing their guns at the CGUE. "Good thing they're firing at him instead of me."

"Two more mobile suits? No one told me about _those_ machines." Le Creuset thought to himself. He blocked the shot from the Tristan as the Hermos fired the shoulder cannons, forcing the CGUE to evade it, though it lost its left arm holding the shield in the process. He noticed the last non-GN suit had been equiped with a huge cannon on its back. "Let's see how an armor piercing ammunition can stand up to your suit."

Kira moved the Strike as he deflected the bullets aimed for the people on the ground. He grabbed the Agni cannon and took aim at the mobile CGUE, even as the Moebius and the two CB masked Gundams were engaging each other in combat. Murrue tried to warn him off, but the Strike had already fired the said cannon, forcing Le Creuset to dodge the shot but the shot had hit the cable, snapping it in half.

"We'd better retreat as well." Tieria suggested to Regene. He didn't need to object to that order, though Fon wasn't going back with them to the Ptolemaios 3. "At least we can now see what Naruto's new machine is like."

* * *

**UNKNOWN WARSHIP**

**EARTH ALLIANCE MOON BASE**

* * *

A blond haired man stood in front of the unconscious Naraku with some senior Earth Forces officers. They were curious as to see why a young man was suddenly found inside a decrepit warship, or that why is he even inside at all. They waited until Naraku regained consciousness and began to nudge him so he can talk. Naraku in turn, was alarmed and horrified that he managed to get himself caught.

"So...what do we have here? Some lost boy stuck adrift?" the officer asked curiously. Naraku didn't talk for a while until the man in the suit begins to step forward. "Director Azrael, maybe you can shed some sense into this kid."

"Will do." the blond man spoke back. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm not a kid. I'm Shimura Naraku, and I'm not obliged to tell you anything." Naraku spat back. To his surprise, no one had beaten him for speaking out. "I'm technically your prisoner."

"No, we wouldn't consider you a prisoner. Anyways, we need someone who could salvage some machines inside the ruined colony of Heliopolis. I heard from our friends in the Orb Union that they have some extra suits. I want you to go there and get that suit." he replied back.

"I wouldn't take orders from someone I don't know." Naraku remained suspicious of his unofficial captors. "And what are you talking about? I don't have any clue whatsoever."

The man in the suit smiled and nodded. "True, you don't know who I am. I'm Director Murata Azrael. I'm the leader of an organization that opposes the existence of the coordinators."

"Coordinators?"

"Humans who are genetically enhanced." Azrael answered back.

Naraku made a disgusted face. "Tell me more about this world. I wish to get myself acquainted."

"Better yet, you'll be sent to one of our secret facilities. We have a secret project that consists of people who are conditioned to fight, and only to fight. We drug them, brainwash them, and even make them unstable." Azrael offered. Naraku didn't like the idea of being a test subject, having heard about Danzo being a willing guinea pig in order to control the Kyuubi. "You don't have any choice. We did capture you, after all. You would have a better life fighting the coordinators."

"Just explain to me what the hell is this about, and where the hell am I." Naraku snapped back angrily. The officer began to move closer to him, but Azrael held up his hand.

"You're right. You don't know where you are, so I'll tell you anyways. You're on the Moon." Azrael answered back.

"The Moon? I find it hard to believe."

"Well, not your typical moon. You can safely say that you're not in the world you know today." the suited man told him.

Naraku finally began to remember what happened. The fight against Naruto and Sasuke in Demon Country, and their last stand in the border with Dimension Country along the portal. He also remembered two strange looking people who accompanied his enemies into this world, and began to put the pieces together.

"Of course. My enemy was going to continue fighting against my vision of what the world should be like." Naraku realized. "I don't have the response you're looking for."

"Think this through. It's not easy joining us." Azrael warned as he left the Shimura heir to ponder on what should he do and how he should take advantage of this new predicament. "We may also have to train you like we train the new Extendeds, or Biological CPUs. In your terms, a living weapon."

* * *

**OUTSIDE HELIOPOLIS**

**SERPENT TAIL**

* * *

Gai Murakumo wasn't pleased with the way his handler had described the mission. First of all, he was supposed to destroy the Astray laboratory containing the prototype Astray Frames but two of the colored Astray Frames had already been captured. The last one was captured by none other than Rondo Ghina Sahaku himself, and the Junk Guild had intervened in the collapsing colony just because they wanted to get their hands on a mobile suit.

"This suit looks perfect." the ex-combat coordinator muttered to himself right after he climbed aboard one of the colored Astrays. "Just the thing to make our value go up."

"Hey, Gai. We got company. It looks like three female students and a big, black skinned guy, and they're waiting for someone." Elijah Kiel answered back as his custom GINN approached the new Blue Frame.

"Great, let's introduce ourselves to them. We do need new recruits for our group since the missions are getting larger by the minute." Murakumo replied in a serious tone. They moved down towards the ground as the two thousand year old Ahead stood beside them. "Whoa! What is that thing! Looks like one of those suits from the history books."

Once Murakumo and Elijah had disembarked from their suits, they went down as the shinobi group waited for Naruto to climb down as well. Karin and Sakura grabbed Naruto and shook him wildly while Hotaru and Kirabi looked on in surprise and shock.

"OK, ladies. Break it up, we don't want our new employee to die upon hiring." Elijah told them.

"That idiot has come back with this giant robot. We're not comfortable with him inside that thing." Sakura explained.

"I hate it to break to you guys, but we're in need of new employees for our new outfit. Don't worry, this isn't about combat missions that you get when you're an Earth Forces or ZAFT soldier. We're just doing some odd jobs with our mobile suits." Murakumo answered back. He looked at the Ahead and whistled. "Man, that is one antiquated suit."

"Who are you guys anyways? It's not like we're being recruited by another group. We had enough of that already when Celestial Being wanted to recruit us." Karin told the Serpent Tail leader. Elijah sighed and shrugged.

"We're not like Celestial Being. We don't go down and intervene in conflicts." Murakumo assured the worried redhead. "We're the Serpent Tail. We pretty much take any jobs available."

"It's like the mission system back home." Naruto told Sakura. "Only we use those robots to do the work for us."

"Still, I'm not sure if we should stay here. We have to go back home." Sakura replied back, but Naruto shook his head.

"Naraku's here in this world. It's a great opportunity for us to stop him from whatever he's planning. Besides, as long as Kirabi and I are here, there's no way Madara will go to this world." Naruto assured her.

Murakumo nodded. "We're more of a loost knit group. We don't have to worry about which government we should serve."

"Sakura, think of this as a great opportunity to learn a lot about this world, other than the ones Celestial Being would want us to learn." the blond continued. Sakura looked down for a moment, wondering if she would have to go along with this plan. Should Naraku have a control of this world, it will be impossible to win the war that's already impossible to win with the Akatsuki in control of the other seven bijuus. "For the future of our world and this world, we need to learn more about this war."

"Naruto, I wish I can trust you. However, your judgment can be a bit questionable. Even though we desire to get back home, it will be regretable in the long run." the pink haired woman replied back. "So, I will go with you, but only to watch out for your own safety."

"I agree with Sakura-san. In fact, I owe you for avenging Utakata's death." Hotaru added.

Karin nodded. "And you saved me from Sasuke, even though he's still alive. We'll go with you."

"I'll go with you too. Besides, we're the main targets of the assholes." Kirabi offered Naruto a fistbump again. This time, he took it without hesitation. "I'll try to rap less for this mission."

"OK, so we can join you guys. We want to join the Serpent Tail." Naruto told Murakumo. "Even though Celestial Being may want to get us right back to their fold, we cannot trust their judgment yet."

Elijah grinned. "Well, it seems that they want to join us. Would you agree with me?"

"Yeah. Welcome aboard the Serpent Tail. I expect you all to do your share of the work as a mercenary. This isn't an easy life, but you can manage with the right attitude." Murakumo lectured sternly to the new recruits. "Other than that, we will get you guys some mobile suits and assign some roles."

"Thanks. I don't know your name." Naruto told the Serpent Tail leader.

"Gai Murakumo."

"All right, Mr. Murakumo. There's a mobile suit that I need to fight first." Naruto climbed on the Ahead and started to fly out towards the sky where the Strike is fighting against another GINN and the Aegis. He spotted Fon inside the Astrea and joined him. "Hey Robert, I'm not gonna join your group anymore."

"Fine with me. You're not that comfortable being a slave Meister anyways." Fon replied back as the Astrea moved ahead.

The Ahead boosted its speed and caught up with the Astrea, though Naruto didn't want to try transforming his suit once again until he gets comfortable with doing the opposite of what he had just done. Meanwhile, Kira had joined the battle as Miguel fired a huge beam rifle, hitting another cable in the colony and snapping it in half. Athrun had also come under attack by the Astrea, firing back its beam rifle to deter the old school Gundam from helping its allies. The Aegis got behind the Strike as the Ahead intervened and Naruto was able to hear what Kira and Athrun are saying.

"Kira. Kira Yamato."

"Athrun. Athrun Zala."

"So it is you, Kira. Why are you inside that thing?" Athrun asked back angrily. He couldn't get the answer he hoped for as Kira threw the boomerang at the GINN, slicing its leg off before finishing it off with a slash across, killing Miguel in the process. "Miguel!"

"Who are you? You've disrupted the peace we've had. Just why?" Naruto whispered back silently. Suddenly, the colony itself starts to collapse as the gust of wind forced out all objects still clinging inside the colony. "No...Fon, help me!"

"Just get out of there as soon as you can!" Fon shouted back. He slammed his fist into the controls at the sight of the now-destroyed colony. "This is...unforgivable."

* * *

**OUTSIDE HELIOPOLIS**

* * *

Lowe Guele and the rest of the Junk Guild had just finished retrieving one of the Astray suits located inside the now-destroyed colony, just after Serpent Tail mercenary Gai Murakumo had taken the Blue Frame away from the Junk Guild. Despite the orders to have all of Morgenroette's Astray suits destroyed, that order was disobeyed. Or rather, it was countermanded by a mysterious stranger Lowe had encountered inside Heliopolis before it collapsed.

"At least we now have a mobile suit that could help us gain some more cash. We can salvage some more mobile suit and ship parts and sell them to anyone." Lowe told the crew inside the ReHOME. To his surprise, the communications equipment had started to jam for some odd reason. "What the? I can't get through!"

"Lowe?" Liam Garfield called out, but the bridge crew gasped at the sight of a warship floating around the ruined colony. "What happened here?"

"It's obvious. Heliopolis has collapsed." Lowe answered back, but the message didn't get across. "How the hell-"

"Liam! We're detecting a mobile suit. Correction: two mobile suits. One of them resembles the Red Frame, but the other one doesn't look familiar to us. The only thing unique about the masked suit is the cone on its back with some sort of particles...emitting." Kisato Yamabuki muttered. "No way. It can't be!"

Liam Garfield the ReHOME's captain turned to the CIC. "Are you sure it's not a glitch?"

"Of course it isn't! Our radar's jammed, and Lowe can't even talk to us! What's wrong with that?" Kisato asked back, but the mysterious warship suddenly launched one of its mobile suits. "Another suit...it's heading straight for us!"

"I'll intercept it...if it's possible." Lowe mumbled as he aimed the beam rifle at the Hermos, but Tieria simply kicked it away. "Hey! What's the big idea? Kicking my rifle away. Do you know who we are? We're the-"

"Junk Guild. Don't worry, Junk Guild pseudo-Gundam pilot. We're not here to destroy you, although you need to tell us about that suit." Tieria asked the Junk Guild member. "That mobile suit is a mockery of the Gundams owned by Celestial Being."

Lowe couldn't believe what he is hearing. "Celestial...Being. I thought they were extinct."

"That is what we wanted you to believe, so you humans could have your two thousand year peace secured." Tieria answered back sternly. The Hermos dropped its bazooka and moved closer towards the Red Frame. "Now then...where did you get that machine?"

"The same place where that masked suit came from. The ruins of Heliopolis. ZAFT has pretty much captured the other four and the last one is in the hands of the Earth Alliance. Still, ZAFT was pretty ruthless to have destroyed that colony, just for those suits and a new warship to boot." Lowe replied in a shocked tone. "Plus, there's that mobile suit that looked large."

Tieria winced. "A new warship? And a mobile suit?"

"Sure. White colored warship, plus the Moebius is docked inside. Look, we're just scavengers looking for some discarded items we can sell on the black market. At least let us do our jobs, and we'll let you do your jobs." Lowe insisted. Tieria sighed in disappointment. "The machine in question looked like this." He showed Tieria the picture of the custom Ahead.

"That machine...did Morgenroette by any chance, salvaged that suit? All right, fine. We'll let you go for now, but don't interfere with our armed interventions. If you do, then we'll have no choice but to designate the Junk Guild as legitimate targets. Even though you may have some good intentions, our goal of steering humanity back to its rightful path is our top priority." the Hermos turned around and left the Red Frame and its ReHOME supply ship.

"Celestial Being...could it be possible to conduct business with them?" Lowe wondered, confused at just how the encounter with the unknown guardians from the AD era would change the lives of all Junk Guild members. "Or do they have an ulterior motive?"

* * *

Finally! The last update of the year 2010 begins with this latest addition to the new Dimensional Innovation chapter. Some of you who have read my earlier versions of the NarutoxSEED fics would be surprised to see Naruto struggling to pilot the complicated machine. He's a ninja to the core, so piloting a giant robot would be a culture shock for him. As for Naraku, he may not show up much until the middle of the SEED series as I plan to have him fight alongside Sven's team. As for Naruto and Lacus' first encounter, this will be a very difficult part for me, since I've never tried to make a good set of interactions between these two characters, so please give me an idea on how their first meeting should go, and how would Lacus try to change Naruto's life, and vice versa.

Another thing, I did watch the new Gundam 00 movie a few days ago. However, it was in RAW. Meaning, I watched it without the subtitles. Yes, it sucks to see no translations to the movie so far. The only disappointment that I can see in that movie is, like any other fans who were a bit disappointed, lack of 00 QanT's scenes. Then again, it was designed for interactions with the ELS. So, that covers the lack of scenes. In addition, I now have a FIFA World Cup 2010 for Wii, and I'm liking it.

One last note: I know that despite many shortcomings that I have as a fanfic writer, I do try my best to make sure that my fics are decent. It may not be as good as the fics written by famous fanfic authors like G3rman or even lord of the land of fire, but at least I've taken the time to make sure that this chapter is around eight thousand words in average. Maybe next year, I could find some ways to improve my writing through some creative writing classes, but that's just moot point.

So, once again, 2010 is a good year for some of us, and a bad year for others. At least 2011 would be a new year for the authors and readers alike, and turning over a new leaf. What I'm saying is that Happy New Year to each and every one of you. Maybe next chapter after this, I'll make it look like it's not entirely scripted around the mainstream SEED series, which would have brought the Gundam franchise to the near collapse if 00 didn't exist and Unicorn didn't get animated. My new year's resolution would be to watch more Gundam and hope that Kishimoto doesn't kill Naruto off.

Here's a song that would wrap up 2010:

(This would happen in a utopia universe)

_In heaven, UC is the king of Gundam(because it was like a large piece of pie, dominated all the Gundam verse),_  
_00 and Turn A are good(Mamoru Miyano was good, and so was Romi Park),_  
_SEED and SEED Destiny never existed (though if it did, then Mizushima should have directed it),_  
_and Wing was a masterpiece. (I can't decide who's the best: Kunio Okawara or Hajime Katoki)_  
_G Gundam never happened(someone told me not to watch it, even though it was on my _to-do_ list),_  
_and X became a hit(though I have no clue what X is all about, and it's on my _to-watch_ list)._

_In heaven, Code Geass is a masterpiece(alternate universe is great, though Russia should be featured a lot more),_  
_Hetalia and Patlabor were epic(Patlabor Movie 1 and 2 were good),_  
_Bleach and Naruto were popular(yes, it has the record for the most crossovers made),_  
_though Yu-Gi-Oh! was the best(I like watching Yugi duel Kaiba),_  
_GX and 5D, I have no stomach for watching it(it's so much! 5D, what is that all about?),_  
_and Glass Fleet was also great(Akira Ishida was epic, and so was Yuko Kaida and Yuuichi Nakamura)._

(This is the song In Hell, meaning a distorted universe full of horrible events. Of course, it doesn't mean it will happen.)

_In hell, SEED and SEED Destiny were kings of Gundam(because Morosawa ruined the last ten episodes of Destiny),_  
_UC and Wing were mediocre(Wing was full of bishonens and worst cannon fodder suits),_  
_and 00 never existed(well, that was long before HD existed)._  
_G Gundam was a hit and so did X(Dragon Ball Z plus Gundam equals G Gundam),_  
_and Turn A sucked(it doesn't suck. Events in hell made it so). _

_In hell, Kishimoto tried to direct another anime(well, he had a oneshot anime that is dedicated to baseball),_  
_Fukuda and Morosawa directed Naruto(though I doubt they can do a much better job),_  
_Tomino was out of business(Kill 'Em All Tomino lived up to his reputation),_  
_Patlabor and Code Geass were a bust(see Turn A sucked with the brackets)._  
_Hetalia still dominated the animeverse,_  
_but GX and 5D outgrew regular Yu-Gi-Oh(more complex rules and bans of certain cards like Raigeki and Dark Hole)._

Well, happy new year, once again.

Info on the new Ahead:

**Model Number:** GNX-704T/CE Ahead Smultron  
**Released:** AD 2312(official debut), CE 70 (salvaged)  
**Manufacturer:** Earth Sphere Federation  
**Operators: **A-LAWS (official use), Serpent Tail (customized)  
**Pilots: **Naruto Uzumaki (C.E. type), Kirabi(Sakigake)  
**Height:** 20.9 Meters  
**Weight: **72.9 tons  
**Powerplant:** GN Tau Drive  
**Armament:**  
- GN Beam Katana x2  
- GN Beam Saber x 6 (can be wielded like daggers, inspired by Beginning Gundam from Gunpla Builders)  
- GN Beam Submachine Gun  
- GN Beam Assault Rifle  
- 30 mm GN Vulcan  
- GN Shield  
_**Developed into:**_  
- GNX-930VW Corsair (Commander Test Type){a hybrid of Kshatriya **_without_** the funnels, 00 Raiser and Ahead}  
- GNX-930NC Corsair (Naruto Custom Type){a hybrid of Kshatriya **_with_** the funnels, 00 Raiser and Ahead}  
- GNX-930KC Corsair (Kirabi Custom Type){A hybrid of Sinanju, 00 Raiser and Ahead}  
- GNX-930VS Corsair (Standard Test Type){A hybrid of Arche, 00 Raiser and Ahead}  
- GNX-1000TW Perun {A hybrid of Unicorn Banshee, 00 QanT(regular type and Full Saber variation) and Ahead}


	7. Serpent Tail

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED.

Note: The Gundam 00 movie is finally uploaded in the internet. Please PM me if you want the link. The movie has its ups and downs, but overall, you will have a great time watching it.

* * *

_**Turn Seven: Serpent Tail**_

Alone and adrift in the ruins of what once was the colony of Heliopolis, Kira was relieved that the battle between the Earth Forces and ZAFT were over. Unfortunately, the damage was too great that it may be doubtful for anyone to think about rebuilding that colony again. Not since the time when a mobile suit has entered a colony and destroyed a notorious building known for restructuring the bodies of its soldiers or the recent nuclear attack on Junius Seven has the tragedy of death in space has become even bloodier, and more costly. The only saving grace however, is that no one other than the Earth Forces personnel were hurt or killed in combat.

"X-105 Strike, can you hear me?" Natarle kept on repeating her question to Kira as he didn't know how to respond. "If you're all right, please respond."

That order was good enough for him to respond back. "This is X-105 Strike, Kira Yamato here."

"Please return to the ship immediately." Natarle replied back. However, the Strike had noticed one of the Heliopolis life pods adrift as he went over there to retrieve it.

Back inside the Archangel, Fon stood at the side while Murrue and Mu were having a discussion with Natarle. It may have been a good thing that the new Gawain was sent back to the Ptolemaios 3, which had just been outside the colony, waiting for its mobile suit to return. Apparently, no one liked the idea of the Gawain having some excess firepower when the Hermos has already enough cannons to last around five sorties, and were planning on giving the Gawain some new GN Swords to compensate it for the lack of close combat weapons, and to balance its abilities.

"So what are we going to do now?" Mu asked.

"We're still in a middle of a battle. Yet, why is there another warship outside Heliopolis?" Murrue wondered as she brought up the picture of the Ptolemaios 3. "What kind of warship is that? It's so advanced and yet so old."

"That warship? It comes from the AD era. Only an organization like Celestial Being could possess such a thing." Fon answered back, surprising everyone inside. "OK, I may have been out of line before, but the only thing I can think about right now is how to help this ship escape from ZAFT."

"I don't think both our ship and the ZAFT ships can detect each other right now, due to the heat emitted from the debris." Romero Pal told them.

"It's almost like having GN particles jam up the radars." Fon continued, but Natarle interrupted them.

"Wait a minute! Who authorized you to do such a thing?"

"Ensign Badguirel, what is it?"

"The Strike has returned, but it's carrying a life pod." Natarle told Murrue.

"Well, if this ship can't bring the refugees in, then I'll personally see to it that it gets sent to the Ptolemaios for humanitarian purposes." Fon grinned. Murrue didn't want to argue with her new subordinate over such a trivial issue.

"I'll approve it. Bring them in." she told Kira. She then turned to Natarle and spoke. "Look, we can't afford to waste time arguing over such small things. In addition, we can't hand over the Strike or this ship to ZAFT. We must hand them over to the Earth Alliance Moon Headquarters."

"I doubt ZAFT would want this ship. Even if they did want this ship, it's going to take a lot of crews and resources to maintain this gigantic thing. So, any suggestions on where we should go?" Fon said.

Natarle offered her suggestion. "I propose that we dock at Artemis."

"Artemis? It may be the closest allied base around here, but I doubt that the Eurasians would allow us to enter their Umbrella. Not when they're in competition with the Atlantic Federation over who gets the leadership role in the Earth Alliance." Mu replied back. He turned to Fon and asked. "What do you think about docking in the Umbrella?"

"I'm not that sure to be honest, but if I know which Eurasians who are stationed in that backwater base, I guess it would be the guys from what used to be the former AEU. Gerard Garcia's from Spain, and the rest are from Europe. Look, you won't find any Eurasians in Artemis that comes from the former HRL. They have a base of their own, which is basically the old asteroid ship Celestial Being." the ex-Fereshte answered back.

Murrue frowned. "How do you know about this, Mr. Stad?"

"If I could get a private session with the top officers here, then I will tell you everything." Fon offered.

Mu looked at him skeptically. "Tell us."

Murrue led Fon and the other two officers into her quarters as soon as the rest of the bridge crew began their duty. They entered the room and Fon sits down in a chair while the other three officers began to turn their gaze upon him and started to listen.

"The truth is, I am a part of Celestial Being. My real objective was to help the future pilots prevent another major war from breaking out. I know that this may be against Celestial Being policies, but in light of the situation, I am obliged to help this ship get to its safest place. I pilot the same Gundam I piloted over two thousand years ago, and I was frozen cryogenically. That way, Celestial Being can have a Meister who could stop any conflict from breaking out, like this one. You've already seen the new CB mobile suits, too."

Natarle couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How is it possible? You could have been dead for a very long time if you didn't get frozen cryogenically. It doesn't make sense."

"Look, where I came from, the Earth was divided into the Union, or the Atlantic Federation plus South America, Japan, and Australasia. Australasia, from what I've heard, is now a ZAFT territory. The AEU and the HRL are basically Eurasia, East Asia and the Equatorial Union without the MidEast states. Besides, the Earth Alliance was created only because the Earth Sphere Federation collapsed during the Reconstruction War, but it wasn't formally declared until last year." Fon replied back. "What else do you guys need to know?"

"Well, there's the issue of your suit that has those particles which jam our equipment." Murrue admitted.

"Even the regular history books and physics books can tell you that the baryonic matter can jam any equipment used for communication. Luckily, the Earth Alliance was denied the access to GN technology. Who knows what could have happened if they had it when the Bloody Valentine War started." Fon shuddered. "The war may have been over even before Celestial Being returns to the scene."

"Uh, what exactly happened in the Reconstruction-"

Murrue cut Mu off from his question. "We don't have time to discuss history here. The most important thing is to get into Artemis and resupply. We'll let you stay here because your service is valuable to our efforts."

"Hey. I've got friends over in this ship, and one of my good friends is the pilot of the pseudo-Gundam called the Strike." Fon grinned and left the captain's quarters.

* * *

**SERPENT TAIL LAURASIA-CLASS WARSHIP**

**ABANDONED ASTEROID BASE**

* * *

Murakumo and Elijah stood in front of the table as three crew members start to file through the set of mission ads sent to them from various clients and companies. Kazahana Adja spotted one of the ads sent to them as she starts to read it. By the time Reed Wheeler and Loretta Adja had finished going over the paperwork, the shinobi group had arrived at the bridge with Kirabi dragging Naruto along.

"Sorry about that, kid just couldn't get off the robot." Kirabi told Murakumo.

"That's all right." the little girl smiled and begins to brief on the mission. "This mission ad we've received is an excavation mission. We are supposed to go to this location in order to excavate something from that place. I don't know what that is, but as soon as we excavate it, we should send it to the Umbella."

"Umbrella?" Naruto wondered.

Elijah explained to him. "The Umbrella of Artemis. It's the only Eurasian base in the area. Don't worry. There won't be any armed interventionists around."

"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about a white ship that might dock inside." Naruto told them. "My friend Fon Spaak is inside that ship."

"You'd better worry about something else, Naruto. We're with the Serpent Tail now, so the missions come first before trivial things." Sakura reminded him. She turned towards the youngest crew member. "So how are we supposed to excavate something? The only robots we have are that weird suit, a GINN and one of those Astray things."

"First of all, they're mobile suits. Second of all, we're painfully aware of our limitations in terms of excavations. That's more of the Junk Guild's job. However, because the items in questions are especially important to our client, we are called up for the job instead." Murakumo answered back. "Any other questions?"

"What would our roles be?" Karin asked back.

"Well, you three ladies wouldn't want to be left on the sidelines, so we're trying to get you some suits. In the meanwhile, y'all be working on the bridge for now. As for the mobile suit and ship maintenance, we'll leave that to Naruto and that big guy." Elijah answered. "Since this is a very small ship, there isn't any problem with maintenance."

"Yeah, except that this is the only ship we've managed to get our hands on." Murakumo reminded his wingman. He turned to everyone and spoke. "Any more questions?" No one asked. "Then, the mission will start in a half hour before we reach our location."

"So we're coming over for the excavation, right? How are we supposed to help?" Hotaru wondered.

"We've got some Mistrals that can do the job." Murakumo replied back. "OK then, dismissed."

Naruto and Kirabi floated away from the bridge and right back into the hangar. Murakumo and Elijah accompanied them as they went towards their respective mobile suits in order to prepare it for the upcoming mission. Far away from the Serpent Tail controlled Laurasia warship, two ZAFT ships were patrolling the area where the Archangel had assumed its own course. Luckily, no ship is within range of the Celestial Being warship.

"So, Naruto. How do you like that suit?" Elijah asked curiously. "You know, that mobile suit's notorious-"

"For the atrocities committed in the name of unity. I've read something like that from Celestial Being's library one time." Naruto answered in a soft tone. He typed in some codes on the keyboard of the Ahead as Murakumo looked at the controls. A minute later, Sakura and Hotaru floated down towards the hangar. "Hotaru...Sakura."

"Hello, Naruto. Could we have some time alone?" Sakura asked Murakumo. He and Elijah agreed to get inside their own suits as Sakura climbed inside the Ahead's cockpit. "Naruto, I'm glad that you've decided to spare Sasuke."

"I only need his help to defeat Naraku. Other than that, we have to kill each other." Naruto replied back solemnly. Sakura frowned and looked down at the screen. "Sakura, it's long overdue now. Leaving him alive will cost us our own humanity as much as allowing Naraku to rule Konoha."

"I know that. It's just that there's no one else for me to talk to, other than you and Kirabi. Even you might find someone more suitable than even Hinata. Even more gentle than I am." the pinkette admitted.

Hotaru spoke up soon after. "The first time I heard about what that boy did, I was terrified of what will happen to my family and the people in my village. For our own safety, we fled into Dimension country. I also realized that I'm involved in this kind of conflict as much as you and Naruto are."

"Really? How could you contribute when we've rarely seen you?" Sakura asked the Tsuchigumo heiress. "Naruto has already avenged Utakata's death."

"I know. Utakata would want me to fight fiercely in order to protect the ones most precious to us, and the future of our world as well. Being a shinobi doesn't have to mean you need to lose the most important part of yourself." Hotaru smiled back. Naruto nodded and continued to type. "The important part of yourself is being human."

Sakura and Naruto looked at her in curiosity and nodded. It's easy for a shinobi to kill their emotions in order to put up a mask of deception, especially if it may involve the death of a comrade. Now that the war has inevitably spreaded into the world where humanity has constantly fought each other, spilling their own blood across the pages of history. Seeing as Hotaru barely knew more about the Elemental Nations other than her own home and Konoha, her ideals have made a great impact on Naruto and Sakura.

"Yeah. You know, Hotaru. You do look beautiful in the moonlight." Naruto said serenely, despite that there's no moon to gaze. "I could have done more to save him."

"Naruto, what's in the past is done. Even I understand what you're thinking." Hotaru spoke back suddenly. "Anyways, we'd better focus on what our roles will be in this kind of mission. It's not like the ones you guys receive back home, right?"

"Probably. I don't know how this-" Sakura spoke back, but an alarm had rang out as an announcement had rang out.

"Enemies ahead! Enemies ahead! We've confirmed the enemy as one warship class of unknown origin, and it launched four mobile suits. Prepare for combat." Kazahana Adja told everyone as the three pilots cursed.

"Sakura, Hotaru. I'd better go." Naruto told the two women as he closed the cockpit doors of the Ahead and starts to move towards the catapult. "Now, I'm not sure how this battle will go, but I'd better not lose."

"Agreed." Elijah spoke back. "You go first."

"Roger that. Naruto Uzumaki, Ahead Smultron, launching." Naruto shouted as the Ahead launched. He gasped at the sight of the four masked mobile suits and deduced where it came from. "Celestial Being...at this time!"

The Ahead didn't grab its rifle right away as the Blue Frame and the GINN flew towards the CB Gundams. Tieria starts to open up a communication link with the Ahead, forcing Naruto to speak up to him as the two other mobile suits guarded their GN equipped fellow mobile suit.

"Naruto, I'm surprised to see you here. It seems that your intentions of refusing to join us may have been justified, but you can't escape the fact that you're descended from one of our Meisters." Tieria told him.

"Look, Tieria. I'm not here to fight you. Why are you doing this? You know my answer, and that is still no." Naruto insisted.

"I know that. Which is why I might be able to propose a truce with you and your new group, the Serpent Tail." Tieria turned towards the Blue Frame. "We are Celestial Being, and we're here to call a truce with your organization. However, should you interrupt our armed interventions, we will have no choice but to label you as our enemy."

Murakumo snorted. "Is that what you told the Junk Guild?"

"Yes, I did tell them that." the purple haired Meister of Hermos answered back, to Elijah's amusement. "Anything wrong with that?"

"Well, you see, the Serpent Tail and the Junk Guild are really competitors in mission management. Just as long as you don't interrupt our mission, then we'll get along just fine." Murakumo answered back. The Blue Frame, Elijah's GINN and the Ahead flew off in the direction of the closest abandoned base and went inside as a shuttle accompanied them. "If you want, you can come with us and see what we're supposed to do. It's an excavation mission."

"An excavation mission? That is really unusual." Regene spoke back as the Tristan joined the Hermos. He looked over at the familiar ahead and twitched. "An old relic from the A-LAWS' era. What's it doing here?"

"I have no clue whatsoever." Tieria replied back as the two Gundams accompanied the Serpent Tail suits inside and searched for anything valuable. "So this is supposed to be our mission? Excavating old artifacts?"

"Not just any old artifacts." Murakumo said as the Blue Frame pointed at what appeared to be an old hangar. He spotted an old mobile suit and checked its appearance. "This suit looks bulky, and Elijah has found a machine that looks skinny."

The Hermos flew over towards the wreckage of the mobile suits and started to clear out the rubble that covered the two old looking mobile suits. Regene inside the Tristan also helped his twin brother with the clean up and looks at the true form of the mobile suit. For Tieria, the appearance of a familiar mobile suit seems to have brought back memories of his time with the previous Meisters as the rubble cleared out to reveal a Flag. Not any regular Flag, but the CB Guard Flag.

"Wait a minute. This place is the graveyard for the old mobile suits from the AD era." Murakumo realized as Tieria and Regene turned towards him. "So is this one of Celestial Being's old bases or something?"

"Probably." Tieria answered back. He noticed the Ahead pulling off the bulkier mobile suit and helped the pilot. "Since when did we keep a Tieren as a part of our collection?"

"Celestial Being also had the Enacts too. There was one Enact that looked like the one with the Landstriker package." Regene pointed out. "Should we help these scavengers excavate some more old mobile suits?"

Tieria frowned. "Well, they don't seem to be interested in making wars though. We could help, but this isn't according to VEDA's instructions."

"VEDA's taken under the ESF's control, which then devolved into Eurasian Federation control." Regene reminded him while the Tristan cleared out some more rubble and found the Enact, but it was a Space Type. "There's the Enact."

"So where can we find more of these things?" Naruto asked Tieria as the Ahead used the GN Beam Katana to hack down the annoying debris. "I mean, the regular relics. This place doesn't have anything worth salvaging."

"Maybe some old Katharon or old ESF bases could have those things, but the probability of finding even a single old ESF base is remote." Tieria answered back. Suddenly, Elijah's GINN came inside the old hangar and sent out a message.

"We have company. We've got a Laurasia-class warship belonging to ZAFT and some GINNs coming along the way. One of them might belong to Mikhail Coast." Elijah announced. Murakumo moved towards the old shuttle as Sakura and Hotaru went out in their space suits.

"Get inside those suits and head back towards the ship." Murakumo ordered. They promptly floated towards the old relic suits and boarded them as the Ahead and the Blue Frame flew out of the old mobile suit graveyard. "Just as you've predicted. Mikhail Coast is here."

The Blue Frame fired its beam rifle at the GINN High Maneuver I while the regular GINNs tried to corner the Ahead. The Gundams fired their beam rifles to keep the GINNs away from the Ahead as Naruto aimed his own beam rifle at the GINN and fired it, hitting the cockpit in one shot. The Ahead also spotted the incoming High Maneuver GINN as he aimed the beam rifle once again, but the special GINN dodged the shot.

"Such an amateur." Mikhail Coast sneered at the Ahead as his GINN grabbed the sword and slammed it against its shield. Naruto fired the Vulcan Guns at the High Maneuver GINN, but he found himself face to face with it. "You can't beat me."

Mikhail's GINN shoved the Ahead aside as he gave it a kick in the chest, surprising the blond jinchuuriki and shoved him aside before the Blue Frame intervened by grabbing its beam saber and slammed it against the High Maneuver GINN's shield. Naruto's Ahead proceeded to give its own kick right back at the GINN HM's chest before firing its beam rifle again, but only succeeded in grazng the GINN. Elijah fared no better as his own GINN was being harrassed by the regular ZAFT GINNs while the Gundams aimed their guns at the ship.

"Celestial Being, you guys should get out of here right away. No doubt ZAFT would want to capture you guys once they've seen what you can do." Murakumo told Tieria.

Regene spoke up. "Tieria, Reena's given us another mission. We are to intervene in the African desert where ZAFT's fighting the guerrilla movement called the Desert Dawn."

Tieria grimaced. "All right then. All Gundams, retreat now."

All of Celestial Being's Gundams start to retreat from the battlefield while the Ahead kept on getting beaten by the HM GINN. Murakumo tried to intervene, but the GINNs kept him apart even as Elijah managed to slice one GINN apart. Naruto is also struggling to keep up with the experienced Doctor Death of ZAFT, even with the technological advantage he has over him. It was not until the Laurasia fired a retreat signal that the ZAFT mobile suits start to fly back towards their ship.

"They've retreated. But why?" Naruto asked himself.

"Looks like they've got something bigger than just us mercs." Murakumo answered back as the three Serpent Tail suits flew back towards their own ship. "Naruto, you'll have to work on your mobile suit piloting skills, and as well as your flanking maneuvers. You did great, but you were shaky."

"All right, Mr. Murakumo." Naruto replied back as they entered the ship with Sakura and Hotaru taking control of the Tieren and the Flag, as well as the Enact they've found.

* * *

**NAZCA-CLASS WARSHIP VESALIUS**

* * *

Le Creuset and Ades were standing on the bridge of the Nazca-class warship, discussing about what had just happened with the now-destroyed colony of Heliopolis. No one would have anticipated the PLANT Supreme Council's reaction to the destruction of a neutral colony, even though the Orb authorities had violated their own neutrality by providing the Earth Forces the needed resources to build the five mobile suits.

"This is becoming quite the situation. How would the Council react to this series of events? A colony, destroyed." Ades told Le Creuset, who nodded in agreement.

"True, but at least no one died in this incident. Unlike the Bloody Valentine Tragedy where the Earth Forces had launched a nuclear missile, this incident wasn't as tragic." he spoke back. "How can a colony call itself neutral when it provided the resources for the construction of those mobile suits? There isn't any problem, now that every refugee has escaped."

"Still, something this tragic could also be compared to an incident a long time ago, located in what appeared to be an orbital elevator." Ades replied back. Everyone had known a little bit about the incident on th orbital elevator as it was the scene of the old ESF's coup d'etat by some of its disgruntled soldiers.

"Can you confirm where their ship is located?" Creuset asked.

"So far, we can't determine their location because of the debris. The same thing can be said about them detecting us, of course. Also, there's something that's bothering me, commander. We've found out about the cause of our mysterious radar jamming."

"Oh? Do tell."

"I believe a baryonic matter may have been the factor in the mystery jamming. Also, should we wait for reinforcements before we start to attack the new warship?" Ades suggested, knowing that they've lost about a couple of GINNs in the last attack.

"Well, we don't have time to wait for reinforcements. We can however, attack the Earth Forces' new warship with the captured mobile suits we've taken from them." Creuset countered back. "We have four mobile suits. We can use them, since we've already extracted the data that we need."

Ades paused for a moment as he considered the idea. "Hmm...do you think we can also use this opportunity to capture the wildcard mobile suit? I mean, the mobile suit with a solar furnace. That must be where the particles come from."

Le Creuset tensed up. "Particles, as in the particles that jam the radar? By all means, we can do that."

"Also, there's a possibility that a group of armed interventionists might interrupt our battle. How should we prepare ourselves when they show up? If our history books are right about them, then we're unprepared for combat against such highly advanced opponents." Ades replied back. Le Creuset remembered well about his last combat against Celestial Being's Gundams, and their firepower can be a problem. "What should we do by then?"

"I'm not sure. There is something you need to know about these terrorists. A few years ago, one of their agents attempted to recruit the entire Zala family to work for them. Of course, Defense Chairman Zala refused to work for them but they were highly interested in young Athrun." Le Creuset warned the entire crew. "Right, we need to know what the step will our new prey take. I am guessing that they will go to Artemis?"

"Artemis? Wouldn't the Moon base be a lot more logical for them to go?" Ades asked back, but Le Creuset shook his head.

"The Earth Forces Moon base would be a lot too far for them to make their journey. Besides, they did take off from Heliopolis without any consideration for the amount of supplies that they've got. Artemis on the other hand, will be much more obvious. It's the nearest base around for the Earth Forces, and it's also much closer to where the new warship is located. I'm also thinking about planning to capture two more mobile suits for the homeland, one of them the solar furnaced one." the ZAFT White Coat replied back. When an announcer had noticed a signal going in the direction of the moonbase, Creuset smirked in anticipation. "See? They're going to Artemis. That signal's a decoy."

Meanwhile, Athrun returned to his room and laid down on his bed. He was lost in his thoughts as he recalled his fight against Kira, and the appearance of the masked mobile suits. Even if he didn't know his unknown connection to Celestial Being, there are ways that they could reach him, normally through such unorthodox methods such as mentioning the ELS incident in which certain aliens had grown attracted to his presence. Athrun also had to contend with the fact that he will have to fight against a Gundam from Celestial Being, which he wasn't comfortable about since he didn't know its capabilities.

"What was that all about?" Athrun thought to himself while he looked up at the ceiling. "Rusty..Miguel...Kira, if that is you inside that mobile suit...then why didn't you just join us?"

"Would Athrun Zala please report to the Commander's Quarters?"

Athrun got up from his bed and floated out of his room. He arrived in Creuset's quarters and asked for permission. "This is Athrun Zala, reporting."

"Ah, come in." Creuset told him as he entered his quarters. He returned the salute as Athrun stood in front of him. "You had some problems with the collapse of Heliopolis a while earlier. I'm sorry for talking to you so late."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry about the last battle." Athrun replied back automatically.

"I won't punish you for doing that action. I know it wasn't like you to do such a thing, but I need you to tell me what posessed you to do such a thing. You stood beside that mobile suit when it moved." Le Creuset asked back. "Was it someone you knew so much that you had to go out there and find out?"

Athrun looked down on the floor and spoke back. "I am indeed sorry to have carried away with such action. The last person inside that mobile suit is a friend I knew, Kira Yamato. He was a close friend of mine from prepatory school, and he's a coordinator. I didn't think I'd meet him at Heliopolis, out of all places."

"I see." the masked commander wondered. "In warfare, you can find a lot of tragedy and irony. Just earlier, the Coast team had engaged the Serpent Tail. One of the Serpent Tail's newest mobile suit was a relic from the AD era. No one knows who is the pilot, but the fact that there's a solar furnace attached on its back would mean something."

"Really?" Athrun wondered. "He was a good friend though."

"Well, I could excuse you from the next sortie, but you'd object to that, I presume?" Creuset continued.

"Uhh...I-"

"You can't fight such a friend. Even though he was once close to you, he's our enemy now. I could give you a special order to convince him to join us. As for the mobile suit aboard the new warship with a solar furnace, we can also extend that invitation to him." Creuset suggested.

"Kira's a naive boy. He is too blind to see that he's being used by the Naturals." Athrun insisted. "If I could just convince him-"

"Then you would be wise to convince him. If he refuses, would you shoot him then?" Creuset asked back, playing the moral dilemma card.

Athrun hesitated for a while. "Y-yes."

* * *

**ARCHANGEL**

* * *

While the refugees are being processed by the Archangel's crew on an individual basis, the Heliopolis students sat down in a bedroom with Fon lying down on one of the beds. He'd long realized that Naruto wasn't going to join him in the mission Celestial Being had assigned to them, mostly thanks to his refusal to join them in the first place. He was allowed to go away from Celestial Being, but he had to wear an explosive necklace on his neck if he spilled the beans, or in other words, if he gave out the secrets of Celestial Being to any hostile faction.

"Staying here is quite dangerous." Flay noted once the ship starts to move. Fon yawned and smacked his lips.

"There's not that much options left." Fon answered back.

Sai starts to ask a question. "Do you think our parents are OK?"

"Probably. The evacuation's gone smooth, so there's no casualties. Other than that, being in this ship is indeed better than being adrift on a life pod. It's not like being in a life boat on the sea." Fon replied back as he got up and sat up. "Anyways, the other students won't be joining us at all. They're not even here."

"Yeah. I wonder where did they go? Probably on another life pod." Tolle answered back. A minute later, Mu called out Kira's name as he turned around and saw him.

"Murdoch wants to see you. He also wants to see Mr. Robert Stad Jr as well. I assume that's you." Mu told Fon as he and Kira followed the officer into the hangar. "By the way, Murdoch wants you to maintain your mobile suit now."

"Wait a minute. My mobile suit? Since when that machine became mine? I only used it to protect everyone on the ship." Kira insisted.

"It's the only way. Not unless you want everyone here to die and ZAFT takes control of both this ship and the mobile suit. Besides, you're the only one who can control that thing. No one else would be able to control it, unless Mr. Stad could pilot it." Mu answered back. Fon grinned and shook his head.

"I have my own suit to pilot, and even I'm most likely to be targeted by ZAFT because of the GN Tau Drive on the Astrea's back." Fon answered in a jovial tone.

Mu sighed while Kira gave out his reasons. "When another battle goes on, would you be able to die while saying you don't want to fight? Right now, you and I are the only ones that can protect the ship, even with Mr. Stad's help. Is there another name we should call you, Mr. Stad?"

"Yeah, how about Mr. Fon Spaak? I've been using that name for a while too." Fon told Mu, to everyone's surprise. "Robert Stad Jr. is my real name, but I'd like to put that past behind me and use my adopted nom de guerre Fon Spaak."

"If you have the power to protect, then why not put it to good use? This is reality, Kira. You can't run away from this kind of reality." Fon advised the young man. "I heard from Tieria Erde that a boy who was similar to you had made a mistake of fleeing from a resistance base, just because he felt that it wasn't part of his fight. He paid for his mistakes with the deaths of al Resistance members."

Kira raced up to Mu while Flay starts to talk to Fon and Sai. "Wait, so that Kira kid was the one who is piloting that mobile suit which saved my pod?"

"Pretty much. Besides, Kira...Kira..." Fon hesitated to tell Flay about Kira's genetic status, but Kuzzey blurted out instead.

"Because Kira's a coordinator."

"Really?"

"Kira's a coordinator, but he's not part of ZAFT. He is with us, and there's Robert or Fon or whatever he's called to help Kira protect us." Sai replied back to Flay as Fon stepped back inside. "He's also our precious and special friend. He's always bailing us out of tough situations."

An alarm rang out as the crew member announced the upgrade of the ship's battle status. Every other crew rushed towards the bridge as Kira and Fon's names were announced and they had to go up to the bridge as well. Beside the Archangel was the Nazca-class warship Vesalius, which had been secretly tracking their steps. The Laurasia-class warship was far away, but once they come closer, the Archangel will be caught in a pincer's movement. Tolle and the others were dressed up in their new Earth Forces uniforms, accompanied by another Earth Forces officer.

"Kira. The ship's short on crews, so we've volunteered to help out." Tolle told Kira. "This way, we will know if you're in danger. We can be right beside you."

"Thanks." Kira smiled and headed off towards the changing room with Fon behind him.

* * *

**EARTH FORCES ATLANTIC FEDERATION BASE**

* * *

Naraku was led into a room full of recruits reciting the same phrase by a burly Earth Forces officer as he showed him around the moon base. Earlier on, Naraku had agreed to Azrael's suggestion of joining the Earth Forces as a special Combat Coordinator, but he wasn't prepared for this kind of training. It was intimately familiar to him, having been indoctrinated in Danzo's Root ideology but nothing as grotesque as being brainwashed, drugged and eletrocuted seem to be appealing to him. Even so, he was determined to succeed despite the inhumane conditions of the training.

"Here, you will be indoctrinated in our ideals. Observe the future biological CPUs chanting." the officer explained to Naraku.

"Coordinators killed our parents. We shall avenge them. We shall kill coordinators, for the preservation of our blue and pure world."

"Whoa. Indoctrination on this massive scale?" Naraku tensed up. He rarely showed emotion when he is on a mission or when he is training, but because he had signed up to become a living Combat Coordinator, even he can't mask his emotions to the horrors of the training.

"Look, this isn't a good training for such a normal person. However, someone like you would be a perfect candidate for our program. Believe me, Director Azrael had personally recommended you to me." the officer gestured to Naraku to sit down and to begin his indoctrination. "Good luck."

"...coordinators killed my parents. We shall avenge them. Coordinators are a sin against nature. We shall kill coordinators, for the preservation of our blue and pure world." Naraku chanted along with the rest of the trainees. He shook himself off for a minute and trembled. "What is this? This isn't like what I've been through."

He continued his treatment while one of the trainees slacked off in their training, resulting in an electrical shock that made him scream. For the first time since he fought against Naruto and Sasuke, Naraku starts to ask himself if what he signed up was worth the experience in fighting his enemy.

"This is inhumane. Then again, Uzumaki isn't human." Naraku assured himself. He screamed in agony once an officer found him slacking off. "Ahh! It hurts..."

"Don't slack off, and you won't get hurt." the officer snapped back. Naraku promptly resumed his training and told himself to hold his emotions in check. "Anyone else thinks that slacking off would soften the blow will be in for a nasty surprise."

"What have I gotten myself into? Am I going to be turned into a monster myself? No, I will endure this like a shinobi. Wait, is this even worth it? Of course, it is." Naraku kept on thinking to himself as he continued to struggle to adapt to his new condition. "I have to make a sacrifice for the greater good."

* * *

OK, this is the new chapter for this fic in the new year. For TM Revolution fans, the Bleach Hell Chapter has a new theme song, compliments of Nishikawa called Save the One, Save the All. I personally like this song, though this would fit more into a Gundam show than Bleach, but that's just me. The 00 Movie was also good, though fans of 00QanT would be disappointed by the lack of action on the part of the said mobile suit.

One other thing, this fic is now the official NarutoxSEEDx00 fic in which I've slotted Naruto with a regular mobile suit instead of a Gundam, as to make it more interesting and to placate anyone who might otherwise accuse me of overpowering him with a needlessly overpowered Gundam. The Ahead series is what I had to settle, since the Brave line would be a bit less appealing. Don't worry; I will give the GN Lance to the Ahead, and it will act more like the Glouchester from Code Geass.

Finally, Naruto in this fic is a part of the Serpent Tail along with Sakura, Karin and Hotaru, and as well as Kirabi. This is a curious bunch since I rarely used the other filler characters other than the pseudo-Sayla Mass filler chicks (see Shippuden Next, and you'll know what I'm talking about. The pilots of Kshatriya, Tallgeese II and Unicorn.) He will eventually join Celestial Being or the Earth Sphere Federation in the long run, but if he does join Celestial Being, that would actually prevent him from interacting with Lacus more often unless she joins as well. Tell me waht do you think about Naruto's new machine. I know that some of you may not like it, but it's better than an overpowered Gundam, right? Plus, his skills as a pilot would go along the lines of Amuro and Gundam.

One final note, the action where Mikhail Coast's GINN gives Naruto's Ahead a kick in the chest should be familiar to you Gundam fans, since this action gives tribute to an iconic symbol of Gundam, the Red Comet Kick.


	8. Confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Eight: Confrontation**_

* * *

On a military training field, Naraku and some other trainees in their new Earth Forces uniforms ran through an obstacle course while holding their rifles and firing them at the targets. For a while, the de facto Root leader has gotten used to the regimen of his erstwhile overlords, though the nature of the training itself was unlike any training he'dendured back when he was a young ninja waiting to be inducted into his beloved grandfather's organization.

"Faster! Last year's team was better than the lot of you!" the instructor shouted. When Naraku stubled on the ground and struggled to get up, he marched closer to him. "Do you have any problems running with a heavy backpack, soldier?"

"No, sir." Naraku answer back.

"Then get your ass back into gear and hurry the hell up!"

Naraku didn't need to object to the same order twice as he continued to fall behind the other trainees. Once the firing range and jogging exercises were over, Naraku moved on to another facility where he was expected to waddle through water, mud and possibly exploding mines. As in the facility he had gone earlier, Naraku had to carry his own rifle, his heavy backpack and some ammo while doing the crawling exercise.

"C'mon, slowpokes! We don't have much time wasting here!" the instructor snapped and shouted as the trainees continued to struggle through the mud with a barb wire hanging above them. "You're all supposed to be the best future soldiers of the Earth Forces from the former World Economic Union. The AEU pansies could do a better job crawling through mud and mines than the lot of you. Move it!"

_"How the hell am I supposed to survive this?"_ Naraku thought to himself furiously while he starts to crawl through a muddy group with another barb wire hanging above him. "The explosions are so brutal, I doubt even Uzumaki can heal his own wounds from a mine explosion. This training makes the ANBU training look like an amateur genin training session."

"No slacking, slowpoke!" the instructor snapped at Naraku once he finished his course. He looked at the timer and shook his head. "Not bad today, but not that good either. I expect you to be more fit than that. We have a war going on, and we can't afford to lose even a minute in waiting for you to finish up."

"Yes, sir." Naraku panted.

"Five laps around the airfield." the instructor told him as he dropped his stuff off at the barracks. "And yes, don't bring your rucksack."

Naraku arrived at an airfield on an adjacent location from the barracks he's staying in and proceeded to start jogging. The instructor from earlier had also arrived at the airfield and begins to time him on this exercise. Once the Shimura heir finished his exercise around the runways, the instructor approached him and nodded.

"Well, your fitness level isn't that bad. Although, you may want to be a bit less hesitant when you're training on the facilities. On the battlefield, if you're hesitant, you can die." he told him. "Get changed. You'll be expected to go inside the lab where you'll be doing the mental conditioning."

The mental conditioning he mentioned was the same conditioning when children look at the pictures of people shot and killed. Their chants about how coordinators killed their parents and how they should be killed was becoming more of a daily routine than a special class for Naraku. For someone who's been trained to mask and even kill his own emotions, the mental brainwashing seem to be far more harsh.

"Coordinators are the devils. They must be killed for the interests of peace. For justice, and preservation of our blue and pure world." Naraku starts to speak with a monotone. When he was about to fall asleep, electrodes forced him to stay awake. It is indeed a very brutal, and very grotesque kind of ritual for someone to become a soldier of the Earth Forces.

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

* * *

Naruto's Ahead was already out of the ship along with the Blue Frame and Elijah's GINN, patrolling the area where some pirates were lurking around, waiting for an unsuspecting supply ship to arrive so they can rob it, and possibly kill the crew inside. To their relief, there seems to be no sign of trouble in where they're located. It was not until Naruto detected something on the radar that Murakumo and Elijah starts to come closer towards him.

"Hey guys. I'm detecting something on my radar." he told them. "It appears to be five mobile suits. No, six mobile suits. Two of them are fighting the other four and one of them as a solar furnace."

"Solar furnace? Should we notify Celestial whatchamacallit?" Elijah asked back. Murakumo shrugged as he answered back instead.

"I think you should investigate what's going on, Naruto. The goods aren't ready yet, and we're not supposed to use them yet in combat." Murakumo answered back as the Ahead flew off towards the battlefield.

Naruto spots the Aegis and the Strike confront each other while his radar picked up the signal of an incoming mobile suit. He noticed the blue mobile suit attempting to intervene between the Strike and Aegis, but the Ahead shoved it aside, forcing the Duel's pilot to confront him, along with the Buster and the Blitz. The only saving grace was that the Astrea came around to distract the ZAFT machines.

"Kira!"

"Athrun?"

"Stop it!" Athrun called out to Kira as the two mobile suits grabbed their beam sabers. "Put your sword away. We're not enemies, are we?"

"What?" Kira wondered.

Athrun continued to ask. "Why must we fight against each other? Why must you, a coordinator, turn your own weapon against your own people?"

Kira hesitated to answer back and tries to retreat towards the Archangel, but the Aegis blocks the way. The Duel, Buster and Blitz were busy trying to shoot down the Ahead, forcing Naruto to evade the shots frantically. Fon fires the beam rifle at the three pursuing mobile suits, allowing the Ahead to stop dodging and to grab its own beam assault rifle while the Blue Frame and the GINN started to come closer.

"Stop it, Kira. Why are you siding with the Earth Forces? What are you doing with the Naturals?"

"I'm not with the Earth Forces." Kira insisted, to Athrun's amazement. "I have friends aboard that ship. What about you? Why are you with ZAFT? I thought you didn't want to fight, and yet you're in a mobile suit."

"The Naturals who failed to understand the situation, they made these things in Heliopolis." Athrun answered back. Naruto took this time to intervene and fired his beam assault rifle at him. "Another one?"

"You ZAFT monsters destroyed our home. Why should you have the moral high ground?" Naruto snapped back as his shots were easily evaded. He noticed the Duel, Buster and Blitz trapping the Strike, even as Fon continued to harrass them. "Fon. Could you get Kira out of there?"

"Will do, Naruto." Fon grinned and fired his beam rifle at the Duel. When the Duel grabbed its beam saber, Fon responded by grabbing his own beam saber and clashed blades. "Hello there, Mr. Duel Pilot."

"Cocky Natural. Just how do you think you can defeat us?" Yzak sneered, but it only made Fon cackle like crazy. "Are you making fun of me?"

Fon grinned and snorted. "Typical of you coordinators. How arrogant you guys are, and you don't know who are you messing with."

"We're coordinators. You're just a Natural." Yzak sneered back, but the Astrea kicked it aside and fired its beam rifle at the Blitz, which is forced to put up a shield to block the shots. "How can you be better than us?"

"Skill. Something you have, or lack." the ex-Fereshte Meister snickered. Fon suddenly noticed the remaining stolen machines surround the Strike as the Aegis stood there, helpless at what they'll do to Kira.

Meanwhile, the Ahead sent to investigate the current battle was caught up in the crossfire as it forced itself to put up a shield in order to block the shots coming from the Duel. Naruto granned his own GN Beam Katana and slammed it into the Duel's shield and kicked it aside, though it became caught up in another crossfire between the Buster and the Aegis. The Ahead spun around, dodging the shots and avoiding the enemy's beam saber swipes. The Duel returned fire at the Ahead, just to ward Naruto off so he can focus on fighting Kira, even though Athrun was just watching.

"Kira! Get out of there now! You're not safe if you're just gonna keep on standing there!" Naruto shouted to Kira as the Ahead turned around and dodged the Blitz' claws. "Persistent bastard."

Murakumo approached him with the Blue Frame. "Naruto, get the hell out of there right away! There's no need for you to investigate this further!"

"But my friend's about to get captured, and he's piloting the Strike!" Naruto pointed at the figure of the Strike fighting for its life as the Duel was about to finish him off. He joined the surrounded Strike and Fon's Astrea in fighting off the four other stolen machines. "Fon, Kira. Get out of there right away!"

Kira didn't need to hesitate twice once the attacking machines had stopped their attacks upon hearing about the Vesalius' damage report as a result of the mobile armor. The Astrea escorted the Strike away from the battlefield as the Ahead and the Blue Frame starts to retreat as well. Kira starts to fire back at the approaching Duel and Buster, but the Strike ran out of power, unable to produce any more beam shots. Fon blocked the shots coming from the Buster as he grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades with the Duel, allowing Kira to retreat back to the Archangel. Unfortunately, Athrun saw this opportunity to capture the already immobile Strike, even with Fon fighting Yzak and Dearka. Naruto and Murakumo gasped as the Ahead fires its shots at the Aegis, only to have it blocked by the Blitz.

"What are you doing, Athrun?" Yzak asked furiously.

"We're taking this machine too." Athrun answered back.

"Our orders were to destroy it!"

"If we can capture it, it will be better in the long run."

"You damn bastard! You're forgetting the other suit with a solar furnace!" Dearka shouted and pointed at the approaching Astrea. He also noticed the Ahead chasing the Aegis. "Behind you, Athrun!"

"Should have captured that weird looking suit instead of that machine you've got your hands on." Nicol told Athrun as the Ahead shoved him aside and fired its beam rifle frantically.

"Hey, Naruto! Don't fire your beam rifle too recklessly!" Murakumo ordered, but the Aegis kept on dodging the shots.

Athrun suddenly tensed up and noticed the Ahead, even as he struggles to get the Strike back towards the Gamow. "That suit...it kinda looks familiar, yet it's so notorious."

"Athrun?" Yzak asked back, but he and his teammates gasped in horror at the sight of the Ahead. "Don't tell me that's an antiquated mobile suit!"

"More like a two thousand year old solar powered mobile suit!" Dearka exclaimed. The Buster turned back towards the Aegis with the Strike in its claws, literally.

"Athrun, what are you doing?" Kira asked back.

"I'm taking you to the Gamow." Athrun answered back, despite Kira's protests.

"You're joking, right? I won't go to a ZAFT ship. There's no way I'll go inside a ZAFT ship!"

"You're a coordinator. You're one of us!" Athrun reprimanded his wayward friend.

"No! I won't join ZAFT! I don't want to join ZAFT!" Kira shouted angrily.

"Shut up! Let me take you...Otherwise, I'll have to shoot you." Athrun said in resignation. "I already lost my mother at the Bloody Valentine tragedy. I won't let it happen again. So I will redeem myself by making you see the errors of your ways and convince you to fight alongside us."

Athrun didn't finish his sentence as the Ahead and the Moebius Zero opened fire with their guns. "Don't get in my way!"

"Let him go." Naruto replied back coldly and grabbed his GN Beam Katana in an attempt to sever the Aegis' legs, but it was caught up by the Duel, Buster and Blitz. "Perfect."

"What are you talking about?" Fon wondered, but he got his answer rather quickly. Mu's Moebius Zero fired upon the Aegis, and managed to let go of the Strike. "Hahahaha! Man, you're one good decoy."

"Shit! That red suit was a decoy?" Athrun gritted his teeth and clashed blades against the Ahead. He aimed a kick at the Ahead's chest, but only managed to kick the shield away before aiming a kick in the chest. "Why? Why would you allow Kira to be played by the Naturals?"

"Don't take this the bad way. but not all coordinators have to fight for ZAFT!" Naruto answered back calmly. He looked around and fired his beam rifle sporadically, only aiming at the leg joints of each suit. He also noticed his energy level about to go lower. "I'm his friend, and I'm a regular human being."

"Still, Kira's a-"

"Kid! Go back to the Archangel! There's a Launcher pack waiting for you." Mu told Kira. the Strike promptly flew back towards the Archangel, with the Duel in hot pursuit. "Oi, Celestial Being Gundam. Get that stolen suit away from the Strike!"

"No need to mention it twice." Fon replied back. He fired off a couple of beam shots at the Duel, forcing Yzak to clash blades with him. "Man, I like knocking a peg off such arrogant coordinators."

"Why you-"

Naruto and Athrun clashed blades while Mu is busy fending off the remaining two suits. The Aegis fired its beam rifle at the Ahead, which countered back by firing its own GN Beam Rifle. Athrun shoved the Ahead aside and kept on firing its beam rifles and the CIWS machine gun bullets, forcing Naruto to block the shots and to dodge them, even as he starts to grow tired. Murakumo approached the vulnerable Ahead and takes him.

"Let's get out of here, Naruto." Murakumo fired his own beam rifle at the Aegis and proceeds to retreat along with the Ahead. "Looks like we've gotten the info we need on the current disturbances."

"What about the parcels?" Naruto asked back.

"We'll make our way into Artemis and accompany the Archangel. Although we may have to come closer to the Umbrella and notify the Eurasian officers there." Murakumo replied back. He issued out an order to the Serpent Tail's Laurasia ship. "Attention, all Serpent Tail crew. We will approach Artemis soon, so you'd better notify the Eurasian leaders and the Archangel's crew that we will come soon."

"Roger that." Kazahana Adja replied back. The Laurasia starts to move towards the Umbrella as it fired its dual beam cannons. "We do need to get a better ship than this thing."

"Be thankful that we have a ship, Kazahana." Loretta told her daughter. "All right, Gai. We're coming closer towards the Umbrella now."

"Right." Murakumo nodded. He opened up the channels as the Ahead returns inside, allowing the Blue Frame to contact the Eurasians inside the Umbrella. "This is Gai Murakumo of the Serpent Tail. We are currently bringing in the requested package for the personnel inside. Permission to dock and to proceed through the inspectional procedures."

One of the Eurasian leaders told Gerard Garcia about it. He promptly returned the message. "Permission granted, though you and your crew will have to comply with our orders once you reach inside. It's just plain, simple procedure."

"Roger that."

The Laurasia stars to dock inside the Umbrella at the same time the Archangel stopped outside while a shuttle full of Eurasian soldiers starts to move closer towards the ship. Murakumo and Naruto unloaded the requested parcels to the engineers below as the antiquated Flag, Enact and Tieren is moved from the ship's catapult with Elijah, Sakura and Hotaru in controls of the suits.

"I'd never thought I'd see those things again." one engineer looked at the old Enact. "It's been so long since when? 2307 AD?"

"Yeah, but that Enact looked like it had a Landstriker package. I'm guessing that Enact used to be piloted by a guy named Klaus Grado." the other engineer replied back. He turned and looked at the sight of the CB Guard Flag. "This on the other hand is a Flag Colony Guard Type, but what's up with the sword?"

"Celestial Being must have modified that thing. You can see the GN Sword in its hands." a third engineer pointed at the sword. "Finally, a Tieren Space Commander Type. Shame really, I would have loved to see a Tieren All Region Type."

"Silence down there! You guys are supposed to examine those machines, not gawk at them!" an officer yelled at the idle scientists as he accompanies the Serpent Tail group into the office at the same time the Archangel's officers were escorted by other officers and soldiers. He turned to the Serpent Tail crew and smiled. "It's just that these scientists are from Europe, mainly France and Spain. We've heard about their work habits from our German, Norweigan and Swedish colleagues, and we're not that impressed."

"Especially if France's industries often goes on strike." Murakumo replied back darkly. They arrived at the office of Gerard Garcia and waited for him to allow more visitors. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Edelstein. I have the visitors from the Serpent Tail."

Garcia's voice crackled back. "I'll allow them first. The white ship's officers can wait. They're still in the ship."

"Thank you, sir. Please come in." Edelstein opened the door and allowed the Serpent Tail to enter.

"Welcome to Artemis. I see that you've brought the requested parcels right on time, and in mint condition too." Garcia turned to the view of the old mobile suits. "As you know, Eurasia is consisted of former EU nations, Russia and the MidEast. Though Scandinavia isn't included here, all of us here have ancestors who served in the former AEu miltary. The old AEU-09 Enact was our mainstay suit until AD 2312."

"So what is the official Eurasian designation for the old suits then?" Murakumo asked back.

"Perhaps we should give this line of suits with a CAT1-X serial numbers. The new Hyperion suit is designated as CAT1-X1. Therefore, we would name those suits as CAT2-X01AEU EF Enact, CAT2-X02HRL EF Tieren, and CAT2-X03WEU EF Flag. Of course, the EF stands for Eurasian Federation, and the initials after the numbers signify where they came from." Garcia explained carefully. "Anyways, your payment will have to wait. We've got important matters to attend with the Archangel's crew."

* * *

**ARCHANGEL**

**OUTSIDE ARTEMIS**

* * *

Murrue and Natarle saluted to the Eurasian officers who boarded their ship, despite the fact that they're armed. A shuttle is waiting outside while the mobile armors escort the ship inside. The refugees waiting inside were increasingly scared of what the Eurasians will do to them, even though they came from a neutral colony that was recently destroyed. Fon just scoffed at the sight of the armed soldiers.

"Thank you for coming to our aid, sir. We're grateful that you've granted our request to enter port." she told the officer, but the armed soldiers aimed their guns at them. "What's the meaning of this, Commander?"

The officer called Biddaulph replied back in a cold tone. "I would advise you to remain silent, captain."

"Geez, why the armed escorts?" Fon asked curiously, but the soldiers aimed their guns at him. "Guess I spoke too soon."

While the Eurasian officers and their armed escorts accompanied the Archangel's top officers through the base, Fon was surprised to see the recently delivered Flag, Enact and Tieren being examined by the scientists, engineers and technicians. He also spotted the Blue Frame, Elijah Kiel's GINN and the Ahead Smultron Naruto piloted. Still, he was unsure of how the Earth Forces had gotten their filthy hands on such antiquated mobile suits. Back inside the admiral's office, Elijah and Murakumo were still talking to Garcia when the officer was outside the door with the Archangel's officers.

"Oh? That must mean their ship as docked inside already." Elijah deduced. Garcia nodded and clicked a button as the image of the Archangel appeared.

"A top secret project of the Atlantic Federation. Who would have thought that something like this would fall into our laps like ripe persimmon?" Garcia told them.

"The rumors of Heliopolis must be true after all. We were there when it collapsed." Murakumo told him. "My mission was to raid and destroy ZAFT bases."

"We'll invite the crew to stay here for a much needed rest." the Eurasian admiral replied back, but Naruto asked back.

"Do you intend to keep that ship for yourselves?"

Garcia shook his head. "Not really, since I could gift wrap the ship and give it to you guys as payment instead of cash. Then again, that would be impossible. Unless if I could hook your organization to a very old establishment, the Private Military Company Trust of the Eurasian constituent republic of Moralia."

"PMC Trust? We're already a mercenary. Why hook up with another mercenary company?" Elijah asked curiously.

"If I may answer this question, the PMC Trust is the one organization we Eurasians are relying on, just as the Atlantic Federation relied on Orb's Morgenroette to develop their own mobile suits. Having you referred to the PMCs would instantly increase your value as a potential mercenary fighting force." Garcia answered back with a hint of satisfaction. "In addition to these costly expeditions regarding AD era mobile suits, it is indeed worth the costs in terms of future strength. Recall that the recent offensive against the Desert Tiger of ZAFT ended in a disastrous defeat for the Eurasians because their Linear Tanks were obliterated by their new BuCUEs. It is also implied that these dog-like suits have also tore apart the old Anfs that were deployed."

An officer entered the office. "Excuse me, sir. I've got three officers from the unidentified ship as well as their agent with me."

Garcia waved his hand and extended his arms. "Welcome to Artemis. I see that you three have gotten yourselves acquainted with the Serpent Tail."

"No, this is our first meeting with them, up close." Fon answered back.

"Lt. Ramius, Ensign Badgureil and Lt. La Flaga. Who would have thought that the Hawk of Endymion would come here? It appears that your IDs are genuine Atlantic Federation IDs. The only person that's a complete stranger here would be your friend with the jeans."

Fon pointed his fingers at himself. "Me?"

"Yes, you. I don't know who you are." Garcia admitted.

Mu spoke for Fon, just to make sure he didn't reveal any info he doesn't want to reveal yet. "He's Robert Stad Jr., and he's also a mercenary."

"I see." Garcia nodded.

"We're sorry for creating such an inconvienience."

"Duly noted. What are you doing here then, if you're still the best ace in the hole." Garcia asked back. Mu hesitated to answer, but finally found his answer.

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"It's essential that we get some supplies immediately as we have to head off towards the Lunar HQ as soon as possible." Murrue said urgently. "We're being chased by ZAFT."

Garcia scoffed. "ZAFT? You mean this ship just outside?" He switched the channel to another image of the Gamow. "As you can see, they're wandering just outside the umbrella. One vessel isn't our main concern."

"We can't afford to stay here or we'd risk damage to Artemis." Mu insisted, but the stubborn man only laughed at his concern.

"Damage? To Artemis? This place is as safe as a baby in a mother's arms." Garcia insisted, but Fon snorted.

"It's only safe when the guard is up. If the guard is down, then that is when real chaos begins. You can't just rely on such defenses." Fon protested. A couple of Eurasian officers start to move towards him. "Believe me, I know how it feels to have my ass kicked when my guard's down."

Once Biddaulph and the Archangel's officers left the office, Murakumo and Elijah turned their heads back towards Garcia. "Is there anything else that you wanted us to do?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Should we fail in getting the newest mobile suit we needed, we may have to target one of the new mobile suits the Junk Guild possess. Other than that, there are some crews aboard your organization that may need additional training in modern military operations. That is when the PMCs come in." Garcia explained. He also grabbed some papers and handed it out to them. "Maybe you two would benefit from an alliance with the PMCs."

"We'll think about it. Could you show us the Earth Forces' new mobile suit?" Murakumo requested. An officer arrived to escort the Serpent Tail members out of the office and into the hangar, where the technicians are busy examining the Strike. Another officer approached them as he talks to the officer who escorted them outside.

"We've managed to surveil and analyze the ship so far, but the mobile suit...it has been locked."

"The OS, you mean?"

"We have technicians working on releasing the locks, but to no avail. We even had to pull off some scientists from the excavated machines in order to analyze this thing." the officer spoke back. "By the way, no Natural could have done that. It looks like a coordinator based OS system lock."

"Why not get the pilot responsible? He'll have to unlock it at some point." a second officer suggested as they got back towards the Serpent Tail mobile suits. "What a pain in the ass, this travesty."

* * *

**LAURASIA-CLASS WARSHIP**

* * *

The Gamow waited outside the Umbrella, hoping for its defenses to be lowered down. Earlier on, Captain Zelman received a message from the Homeland regarding an additional member that will join the Le Creuset team, as well as another ship with an independent team assembled with GINN High Maneuvers and a custom CGUE as the lead suit. Yzak, Dearka and Nicol were looking at the map of Artemis while the rest of the crew waited.

"So neither lasers nor projectiles can penetrate the Umbrella. Of course, the same principle applies to the defenders as well." Zelman explained to the three Red Coats present. Right now, sinking the Archangel would have to wait as penetrating the Umbrella seems to be more urgent. "This seems to be impossible to penetrate."

"What do we do then? Wait until they come out? Even they can't launch their own attacks. Sound stupid." Dearka said sarcastically, but Yzak rebuked him for his remarks.

"Dearka, this isn't a funny joke. What would have happened if the commander returned, and we told him that we couldn't do anything? We'd be humiliated." he snapped sternly. He turned to Nicol, already gazed at the picture at hand. "Nicol?"

Nicol paused for a moment, until he gives his opinion. "Well, there is a special system that was installed in the Blitz. It may be useful."

"Really? Do tell." Zelman spoke back.

"My machine has a system called the Mirage Colloid system. The system itself can't be detected by enemy radars and sensors. Similar to the particles that antiquated machine possessed." Nicol suggested. "Prove me wrong, but the Umbrella is activated when there are visible enemies around, right?" Everyone nodded. "The Mirage Colloid will be the trump card that can overcome this problem."

Once the meeting was over, the three Red Coats suited up and waited just beside the hangar. Nicol gazed at the Blitz while Yzak and Dearka were talking amongst themselves. Earlier on, they were furious as to how and why Athrun disobeyed an order to retreat when he had the Strike in its claws. He recalled the moment when he spoke to him about the real reason why he disobeyed an order.

Flashback:

_"There is someone that I knew a long time ago. He's piloting the white mobile suit, and he's fighting alongside the Earth Forces. I thought if he could listen to me, maybe I can convince him to join us." Athrun recalled once after Yzak and Dearka left the changing room. "He's a coordinator, and yet he's fighting against us. Like, why would he do such a thing?"_

_"I'm not sure, Athrun. If I had a friend, a coordinator friend, and he was fighting alongside the Earth Forces, I'd feel the same way as you did. I'll see if I could find this friend of yours. If he doesn't want to join us, then it may be better to kill him. He may be your best friend, Athrun, but he's clearly betrayed his own people by fighting alongside the Earth Forces." Nicol would reply back, to Athrun's shock. "Athrun, You can't just think about the past if you are going to survive this war."_

_He left the changing room, leaving Athrun alone to think about what his motives were when he tried to capture the Strike and nearly succeeded in bringing him inside the Gamow._

End flashback.

"The Earth Forces can make such weird machines. The other suit they had, it looked like the models we've captured." Dearka spoke first. "I get the feeling that everytime that thing appears, we can't even talk to each other."

"Still, that MS Nicol has, that's a perfect machine fit for a coward." Yzak answered back.

The two pilots watched as the Blitz took off from the Gamow and flew slowly towards the Umbrella. He disengaged the Phase Shift Armor and activated the Mirage Colloid after uploading the data and sent it back to the PLANTs. In another part of the Umbrella, a Nazca-class warship sailed outside as it starts to move closer towards the Gamow, with a female white coated commander giving out orders.

"C'mon, guys. This isn't the time to slack off. We have to join the Gamow before the Umbrella sends out its troops." she told the crew and pilots. One of the crew approached her. "Yes, Tanner?"

"Commander Aker, the Vesalius isn't here though." a New Zealander Red Coat named Jaden Tanner replied back. Another crew had raised his hand up and gave her a note.

_"To Commander Alexandra Aker from Captain Zelman, we've currently launched our own attacks as we speak. Our captured machine is on its way to the Umbrella."_ she read. The black haired, ice blue eyed White Coat chuckled and sighed.

"At least the Le Creuset team has gutsy pilots. Like my so-called imperfect brother, Axis." Alexandra scoffed before the Nazca-class ship aptly named _Von Trapp_ moved beside the Gamow. "How long until that pilot's pulled his stunt?"

"A bit longer. The Umbrella has to lower its guard first." a crew member replied back.

"Monitor the Umbrella and get all pilots on standby. We'll launch when the Gamow has sent the rest of the mobile suits." Alexandra answered back. She stood and waited for Nicol to finish his stunt. "Get my CGUE prepped up as well."

* * *

**ARCHANGEL CAFETERIA**

* * *

Garcia arrived at the cafeteria with a couple of officers and armed soldiers as the refugees and the crew members sat down and waited. Their purpose was to locate the pilot of the Strike and to force him to comply with their demands to unlock the OS. Fon sat down and laid his head down, indicating that he's about to fall asleep. The armed soldiers pointed their guns at the refugees, forcing them to sit down.

"All right, I'd like to ask who's the pilot and mechanic of the mobile suit." Garcia started.

Fon raised his hand up. "Which mobile suit?"

"Good question. The white one, of course." Garcia answered back.

"Well, I pilot the mobile suit that has a solar reactor on its back." Fon retorted. The soldiers tried to aim their guns at him, but he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "Really, I can't picture myself locking the OS of my own mobile suit, let alone the white one."

"All right-"

"Ask the Lieutenant." Murdoch spoke up, but Garcia countered his answers.

"The last time I've seen the battle footage, the Lieutenant was handling the Zero." he moved towards Miriallia and grabs her. "It's unlikely that a girl would pilot such a machine. Then again, the captain of this ship's a woman."

"Stop it! I'm the one piloting it!" Kira yelled, despite Murdoch's restraint. Garcia sneered and turned his head towards him.

"Hey, young man. I'd appreciate you wanting to protect your little girlfriend, but you as a mobile suit? You're joking right? Get real, punk!" Garcia rared his fist and aimed it at Kira, which he simply blocked and threw him down.

"I don't deserve to be hit by you!" Kira protested, but Flay intervened.

"What he's saying is true!" she shouted. "That boy is the pilot! For you rinformation, he's a coordinator."

Flay's answers must have been received with groans from Sai and the others, and Fon banged his head into the table at her presumed ignorance and stupidity. Garcia and the armed soldiers turned towards Kira and grabbed him.

"A coordinator? This is interesting indeed." he sneered. "Perhaps you should come with us. We have places for such special, talented youngsters like you."

They dragged Kira way from the cafeteria as Tolle turned towards Flay, furious as to why she spoke out loud and recklessly revealing his genetical status to the Eurasians. Fon also stood up and looked at her as if he didn't understood her at all.

"Why did you say that, Flay?" Tolle asked her.

"It's the truth!" Flay must have deluded herself, because Tolle was upset.

"Didn't you think about what will happen to Kira?" he spoke back angrily.

"Stop talking to me like that! The last time I've checked, Kira's our friend and this is an allied base, right?" Flay retorted.

Tolle continues his tirade. "Who do you think the Earth Forces is fighting against? It's ZAFT! ZAFT's full of coordinators, and not everyone here is as warm and kind towards coordinators."

"You know, that kinda reminded me about a story someone told me once. There was a boy who deluded himself, thinking that he can escape from a guerrilla base because he isn't a part of the conflict. He was caught by the army and interrogated. Unfortunately, his actions had resulted in the massacre of the resistance fighters and the fact that he was bitch slapped for his actions." Fon told them. "What I'm saying is that ignorance of reality is an inadvertent malice. By deluding yourself from the reality, you're actually contributing to the problems a lot more. Be glad that I can't slap you in the face, Flay. I'm not that kind of guy to slap a woman."

Fon left the cafeteria and headed off towards the hangar where the Serpent Tail pilots were giving info on their machines to the technicians while the rest of the non-military personnel were over at the Strike, watching Kira unlock the OS. Fon went to the Astrea and starts to type in some information he needed in order to calibrate his mobile suit. Garcia floated over towards Kira and begins to speak.

"So this is the mobile suit you were piloting. I think you are capable." Garcia told him, but Kira protested.

"I'm just a civilian student. I'm not a soldier or a military contractor."

"But you're a traitor to your fellow coordinators, aren't you? I have no clue as to why you betrayed your own people and sided with us. A coordinator siding with the Earth Alliance, you're valuable indeed. I can assure you, you would be wise to join us. You will be well protected from your own people if you chose to work for us." Garcia insisted. He turned towards the arriving PMC officers and saluted. "Ah, you're here. Just as I've requested."

"Yes, sir. What is it that you wanted us to do?" the PMC officer asked.

Garcia didn't have to mince words. "I'm going to refer the Serpent Tail as a potential candidate for further training within your company. They may be a mercenary, but their jobs aren't combat based."

The PMC officer smirked. "So you're suggesting that we recruit the Serpent Tail as a part of the PMC Trust?"

"Yes. Never forget that the Earth Alliance has revived your company after being shut down for almost two thousand years. The last time you guys existed, Celestial Being was conducting its armed interventons with their old mobile suits." Garcia warned, having been educated in the AD History as an Earth Forces cadet. "The training is inside the Moralian province of the Eurasian Federation, right?"

"Yeah. Show us the suits they have." the PMC officer barked. Garcia floated over towards the Serpent Tail suits and the PMC Trust guests paled at the sight of the benevolent Ahead Smultron. Sure, the Enact, Flag and Tieren antiques were also present, but the Ahead gave the notorious impresson. "My God, what is that thing doing here?"

"I'm piloting that machine, which was captured from Morgenroette." Naruto spoke back as he appeared a minute later. "It's my machine though."

"I know that, but the sight of a former A-LAWS machine that will be integrated into the PMC Trust, we might as well make millions of dollars and retire at an early age if the contracts keep on piling up." the PMC officer gasped. "Anyways, we may have to mass produce the Flags, Enacts and Tierens. We're running low on mobile suits, but we've got plenty of resources to build those things. I'll see if I could arrange for the production of Aheads."

"You know, my Ahead has that GN Tau Drive. Perhaps you should analyze it first before you start building the other Aheads." Naruto warned.

The PMC officer nodded. "True, and thanks to Morgenroette's projects with the five G-Weapons as they called it, we can now incorporate beam technology into the AD antiques."

"Yeah, we could-" Naruto begins to talk, but the Umbrella starts to shake. "What in the world?"

"We're under attack!"

"Geez. Mr. Murakumo, can we get the hell out of here then? It looks like ZAFT's about to shell this place!" Naruto yelled out to Murakumo and Elijah.

Murakumo nodded. "We'd better find out what's going on."

The three Serpent Tail suits launched out of the Umbrella as their Laurasia frigate also starts to leave port. Naruto spotted the Blitz and fires his vulcan gun to ward him off. At the same time, the Strike begins to activate as Kira launches in the Sword pack. Naruto and Nicol clashed blades and kept on firing the Vulcan Gun. The Ahead blocks the falling mobile armor and deflects it from the command post. At the same time, the Duel, Buster and the GINN High Maneuvers from the _Von Trapp_ start to swarm towards the Umbrella as well.

"Geez, this isn't the time for this crap." Fon growled as he fired his beam rifle at the custom CGUE, which had an advanced thruster and a machne gun. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Is that a Gundam?" Alexandra asked herself. She dodged the beam rifle fire as the Ahead fired the Vulcan Gun at her. "An antiquated mobile suit? Wait a minute, an A-LAWS relic. Out here in the middle of the Umbrella. That's just great."

"C'mon!" Naruto growled as he kept on firing the Vulcan Gun, and grabbed its beam katana to deflect the sword strike from the custom CGUE. He noticed the Archangel leaving the Umbrella with the ZAFT machines pursuing it. The Ahead turned towards the Duel and fired the Vulcan Gun until Yzak grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades with Naruto, who responded by giving the Duel a bicycle kick in the chest. "Damn it, we'd better get the hell out of here."

"Look!" Elijah pointed at the retreat signal from the Gamow and the Von Trapp. "Finally, we can breathe again."

"This isn't over, guys. They'll be back." Murakumo warned as the Serpent Tail suits returned to their ship along with the newly acquired Enact, Flag and Tieren that is currently controlled by the PMC officers. "We'll give the antiques to Kirabi, Sakura and Hotaru."

* * *

OK, this is yet another fic updated and upgraded. By now, you'll notice that I've taken down the Masked Hero series. Shippuden Next series will be taken down as soon as the SEED portion of Dimensional Innovation is finished. So now, I have only thirty fics up on this site.

Next chapter, the one that you're all waiting for, the first interaction between Naruto and Lacus. Now that I've got ideas on how Lacus would help heal Naruto, the thorny issue remains: how would Naruto influence Lacus?

Another thing, I've got some OCs I'm borrowing from Genesis Paladin, do basically the OCs don't belong to me. It belongs to him.

Lastly, I may eventually add another guy or guys from the Naruto universe to join in this fic. Most likely, Sai and Sora from the Fire Temple arc.


	9. Masked Guardian of the Songstress

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

OK, readers. I know this may be a bit hard for you to understand, but here's how this fic works:

I've managed to integrate the worlds of SEED and 00(since CE follows AD), while combining it with the Naruto universe. One reader has graciously complimented me for blending the two universe together while integrating the third. I'm trying to make the scenes a bit more reminiscent of MSG, Turn A and the usual SEED scenes. Here are some references to the other Gundam series:

- The excavation of old mobile suits to be used in the CE era is reminiscent of Turn A Gundam and how both the Earth Militia and the Moonrace have excavated old Zeon mobile suits for their own use. (Example: the excavation of the Ahead, and non-GN machines for the Earth Forces' use)

- Of course, the GINN used by Mikhail Coast that kicked Naruto's Ahead is a reference to the legendary Red Comet Kick from MSG.

- The masked Gundam faces Celestial Being uses is also a reference from Gundam Unicorn (when Unicorn uses the NT-D is when its true face shows up. The same applies to the CE-era CB Gundams, though Trans-Am is substituted for NT-D)

Obviously, the main themes of this fic are:

- One experience of warfare on one side of the world is way different from wars of another universe.

- Peace is fragile. It only takes one blow to destroy it.

- As long as distortions occur within humanity, it can never cleanse itself of its sins.

- It doesn't matter whether you are from one part of the universe or another, understanding is the main key to a better relationship. (Of course, Einstein's quote from the Movie also applies: "Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved through understanding.")

* * *

**_Turn Nine: Masked Guardian of the Songstress_**

Inside the Laurasia-class warship, Kazahana Adja and her mother Loretta were overlooking a couple of mission ads sent to them from various clients. Since the battle just outside the Umbrella had ended, the Serpent Tail's value as a mercenary group had gone up. Yet, the antique mobile suits had to be taken from Artemis in order to deter ZAFT from stealing them, just as they've stolen the four G-Weapons. Naruto, Kirabi and the three kunoichis gathered around as Murakumo and Elijah waited for another assignment to show up.

"Oh, here's one." Loretta chided. "I heard about the Eurasians' attempt to draw us closer to the PMCs. I don't trust those guys, to be honest."

"Well, where are we gonna get the money for our repairs and maintenance? Even if we've managed to get more jobs, eventually there will be competition between us and other mercenaries looking for work. We can potentially increase our profits and maybe even buy a new warship and possibly hire new personnel and pilots." Murakumo replied back. "What do you have there, Kazahana?"

"Let's see. The PLANT Supreme Council's looking for a couple of bodyguards to hire. They're heading towards the Bloody Valentine memorial located at Junius Seven." Loretta answered instead. She gave Murakumo the paper and let him read its contents. "It's a good deal though. Even when we're not gonna get paid a lot for this job, it would be a great opportunity to infiltrate the PLANTs and locate the potential pirates willing to work with us. By the way, we're supposed to guard the memorial representatives, including Siegel Clyne's daughter."

"Great. Just what I need. Another damsel in distress to guard. As if Koyuki, Haruna and Toki weren't enough, I have to guard this unknown girl as well? Who knows what she could be like? She could even be lost in lala land for all I know." Naruto replied back sarcastically, causing Sakura to grab his ear. "Hey, quit it will ya, Sakura?"

"You'd better take this seriously, Naruto. We're mercenaries now." Sakura rebuked him, only to see him fold his arms. "Are you listening?"

"I already know the details, Ms. Sexy Nurse." Naruto chided, which only caused her to crack her knuckles. "OK, I give up."

"Also, we've basically won the antiques. We're giving them to the three new pilots. Karin on the other hand, she should be stationed in the bridge where it will be a lot safer. The guy who likes to rap songs should be a perfect match for the antiquated Flag." Elijah told everyone, to Kirabi's surprise. He turned towards him. "Just don't play rap songs when you're fighting, or that will be the last thing you've ever done."

Kirabi gave him a thumbs up. "My rap ain't gonna be sung on the battlefield."

"Even though you've already done that when we fought you, you big oaf." Karin muttered darkly.

"OK, and as for the rest of you. Sakura, I think you should go for the new Enact. Hotaru, you could go for the Tieren. Think of this as your bonus, since our payment by cash isn't an option right now. However, the mobile suits are a good source of income for the rest of your lives." Murakumo replied back as he turned towards Naruto. "You on the other hand, you've already got the Ahead Smultron. We do need to make another close combat weapon for the machines."

"How about we make a giant lance? We can easily spear the assholes with it." Naruto jokingly suggested. Elijah chuckled and nodded.

"That may not be a bad idea." he spoke. "Though we don't have the necessary materials needed to build it."

The Laurasia continued its journey, though in a different direction other than the location they intend to go. Little did they knew, the Ptolemaios 3 was just sailing in the opposite direction, towards Earth. Four Gundam launched from the Ptolemaios 3's hangar as they start to descend down into the atmosphere. Tieria is leading the group with his Hermos, with Leif inside the Diabound, Regene in the Tristan and Hixar in the Dagonet.

"All Gundams, we're approaching the target location." Tieria reminded the other Meisters. "Target: Sudan."

"Isn't that the place where they had that conflict in Darfur?" Regene asked back.

Tieria sighed. "Didn't you pay attention to the briefing?"

"Well, something urgent had came up in VEDA. Without its custodian inside, I had to go and check. Good thing I did, because we've got the two DNA samples from the Revive and Anew type Innovades-"

"We're intervening in the troubled region of Sudan. As you may know by now, North Sudan has fought a civil war with South Sudan over resources and religious differences as well. Even with the 2011 Declaration of Independence of South Sudan, the conflict flared up mostly because the Northern side refused to let it go." Leif added his explanation in order to fill Regene in. "After this intervention, we've got a couple more missions."

"Yeah, I've checked the mission logs we're supposed to do. Like guarding Junius Seven in case another conflict flares up and a secession crisis in the former Republic of Krugis. I believe that is where Mr. Seiei came from, right?" Regene asked back. The Gundams have approached the Sudanese airspace as they looked down below.

A squad of South Sudanese Hellions were engaging a couple of North Sudanese GINN OCHER Types loaned by the ZAFT forces. Their sonic beams managed to hit their targets, but one Hellion was taken out by the GINN OCHER's axe. The North Sudanese forces were also reinforced by the excavated Tieren Long Range Artillery Type, which proved to be a deadly force for the mainly agile South Sudanese Hellions and Realdos.

"We've got an incoming mobile suit." one North Sudanese pilot called out as the Diabound descended downwards. "What's that machine?"

"I don't know...hold on a minute. Isn't that what I think it is?" another North Sudanese pilot inside the Tieren as the Dagonet sniped away at the North Sudanese mobile suits while the Tristan and Hermos took care of the South Sudanese contigent.

"Diabound, ready to eliminate targets." Leif announced as he readied the GN Sword Kai and proceeded to slice the Hellions apart. "Hixar, behind you!"

"I've got it covered." Hixar grabbed the pistols and fired the beams at the nearest GINN. "How the hell did they got those GINNs?"

"ZAFT must have sent them. After all, all of Sudan is under ZAFT control." Leif answered back. Both Gundams came under heavy artillery fire from the incoming GINN Heavy Artillery Type. "GINNs are practically annoying."

Meanwhile, Regene and Tieria were busy fighting off the ZAFT forces who intervened in this troubled warzone. The Tristan dropped a couple of bombs into the runways and hangars of a nearby supply depot as it transformed itself into a mobile armor, though the face was still concealed. Two newly deployed BuCUEs fired their railguns towards the Hermos as Tieria charged up the GN Bazooka and fired its shots at them, destroying the Vosgulov-class carrier along with it.

"Hermos, target eliminated." Tieria turned towards the dive bombing Tristan. "Regene, are you done yet?"

Unfortunately, one of the North Sudanese mobile suits used this diversion to chase after its foes. "Thanks for your help." They started to move closer towards the Diabound. "Now we can finally get rid of these guys."

"You rat bastards." Hixar yelled before Leif tensed up and swung the GN Sword into the two GINNs. "Leif, don't scare us like that next time."

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." Leif replied back. All four Gundams start to retreat away from the battlefield, now covered in ruins as the smoke starts to fly towards the air. "This isn't like the battle in the former Sri Lanka."

* * *

**PLANT APRILIPUS ONE**

* * *

The Serpent Tail members who accepted the job offer to guard the Junius Seven Memorial committee found themselves staring in front of one Siegel Clyne, the top Chairman of the PLANTs, though he wasn't in favor of escalating the war against the Earth Alliance. Naruto and Elijah listened to what Siegel has explained while a pink haired girl stood beside her father. Murakumo looked around the Supreme Council chambers and he was surprised at how the civilian members conduct themselves, compared to the Defense Committee members who were strict and often uptight.

"Your job is to guard the memorial committee members. Make sure that they're not hurt in any way possible." Siegel explained to them. "Now, Lacus is the main representative so make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble."

"All right." Naruto replied back. He turned his gaze towards a dark haired man who wore a Purple Coat of the ZAFT Defense Committee. "Who is that guy?"

Siegel sighed. "That's Defense Chairman Patrick Zala."

"Zala...rings a bell." Naruto wondered. He recalled the time when Regene and Hixar spoke of the time the Zala family were attacked by the ELS. "Wait a minute, I may have known a little bit about the Zala family."

This sudden outburst alerted Zala to his presence and turned suspiciously towards the Serpent Tail mercenary. "Are you perhaps a spy?"

"No!" Naruto protested. He hesitated to speak up at first, but slowly gave in as Murakumo prodded him. "I mean, not really a spy. I've heard about your family's attack by the-"

"Damn it. Are you one of those armed interventionist freaks who are trying to recruit us?" Zala asked suspiciously. He didn't forget the ELS incident in which Athrun was nearly assimilated. "Tell me at once."

"I'm not a member of Celestial Being. Frankly, I was also approached by Celestial Being to join them, but I declined. I'm asking you about the ELS incident because I was also attacked by them as well." Naruto replied back heatedly. Zala stopped for a moment and gasped. "I've suffered from extreme migraines whenever I touched those slimy freaks."

Siegel was curious at this sudden disclosure of information. "Did you say you were also affected by those aliens?"

"Sure. I've encountered them before. I also get flashbacks of some man inside a mobile suit when I am in contact with those metallic shapeshifting freaks." the blond mercenary replied back. He turned towards Lacus. "By the way, what's her name?"

"I'm Lacus Clyne. The person in charge of the Memorial service." Lacus spoke back for the first time. Naruto was enamored by her appearance and radiant beauty as she smiled back. "I'm also engaged to young Athrun as well."

Naruto sheepishly chuckled. "I'm sorry if I was looking at you the wrong way."

"That's fine. Shall we head off towards the Silverwind?" Lacus asked back.

Murakumo nodded. "Well, I'm sending Elijah, Sakura and Hotaru as extra back ups in case something's wrong. By the way, you should wear civilian clothing when you're on the ship, and not the old ESF flight suits."

A while later, Naruto arrived at the Silverwind with Sakura, Hotaru and Elijah riding their respective mobile suits. The PLANT representatives cautioned the Serpent Tail guards against carrying weapons in case they run into the Earth Forces. Elijah heeded the warning, but he wasn't worried about what would happen to the ship. After all, the Earth Forces aren't that stupid to attack a civilian ship, even if it belonged to the enemy.

"You can relax now, Mr. Uzumaki." Lacus called out to the blond mercenary, who was wearing a masked flight helmet. "I'm glad that you've volunteered to guard the representatives heading towards Junius Seven."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about that incident when I was reading at a Celestial Being library. That must have been the most tragic space incident since the orbital elevator coup a long ago." Naruto looked on through his masked flight helmet at what appeared to be three orbital elevators. "Are they still working?"

"Recently, the Earth Forces had to reactivate the orbital elevators when the N-Jammers were planted around the planet. Needless to say, those guys in the Earth Forces uniform aren't pleased to use solar energy, since they see it as a relic of the hated Earth Sphere Federation." Elijah spoke as he walked in. "Ms. Lacus, just how long are we going to Junius Seven?"

Lacus paused for a moment and closed her eyes. She opened them once she begins to speak. "Well, the Junius Seven Memorial will take around two days."

"Great. That will be long enough for us to get back into our ship and continue our mission." Naruto replied back, but Lacus asked another question.

"Are you going to be with us when we're starting the ceremony? It's for the people who lost their lives in this tragic attack."

Naruto sighed. "I sure am, but there are times when I may have to aim my gun at any idiot who could interrupt this ceremony."

"I see. I'm saddened whenever Athrun brings up the topic of his actions on the battlefield. It's like no one cares about how fragile peace can really be." she started. Naruto grew curious when she starts to explain more about her fiance. "I mean, shouldn't we try to get along with each other, regardless of differences?"

Naruto knew better than to speak out about her opinion. Not yet, anyways as he needed to know more about her personality and what she thought about the current conflict. Right now, speaking out against her opinion without any clear, precise picture would be premature. Instead, he decides to escort her into the cafeteria where the rest of the Memorial representatives are eating with the other Serpent Tail bodyguards.

"There you are, Naruto." Sakura gave him a tray of food. "I'm sorry if there isn't any ramen."

"That's all right, Sakura." Naruto nodded and began to eat his meal. Lacus and Elijah sat beside him as the Silverwind continued its trek. "How do you like your new machine?"

"I like the Enact though. Why isn't Kirabi here anyways?" Sakura asked back curiously.

Elijah sighed. "He had to stay behind the Laurasia-class warship. Gai's also with him, and they're doing separate missions. Our policy is to make sure that we have enough mercenaries to complete the missions given to us."

Beside the Silverwind were three Nazca-class warships sent to guard the Silverwind, among them the elusive Von Trapp. Inside the Von Trapp, Alexandra Aker and her team were busy discussing their latest mission while the mechanics were tuning up their machines for the next mission. Some of the bridge crew were surprised at how she's surprisingly gentle towards her subordinates when most of the time, her interactions with other people were a bit strained.

"We've already sent one recon GINN to make sure that there isn't any enemy warships in the area. Granted, the only thing we do have to worry about is the white ship the Le Creuset Team didn't sink so far." Alex told the red coats.

Jaden Tanner spoke up after she finished her briefing. "Commander Aker, wouldn't the Vesalius be involved with the recon mission as well?"

"Unfortunately, they're back in the homeland where Athrun is giving his report to the Supreme Council. This also means that my so-called 'defective' brother Axis would be joining him. Besides, my parents support Defense Chairman Zala's intentions." Alex replied back. Most of the time, her friends would call her Alexis. "We can use this opportunity to get to know each other. How about you, Cyrus?"

"Yeah. I'm Cyrus Panjavi. I'm the pilot of a GINN High Maneuver. I used to train under Mikhail Coast." the Iranian Red Coat introduced himself. Just as Alex turned towards the other red coat, Mikhail Coast joins them. "Hello, Commander Coast."

"Hello, Cyrus. And you too, Commander Aker." Coast spoke back. He looked around the ship and grinned. "I've encountered a red mobile suit that had a solar furnace before."

"Really?" Alex raised her eyebrows. Her piercing blue eyes could look deep into Coast's eyes and she can tell that he wasn't lying. "So you know something about this mobile suit?"

"Other than the usual radar jammings, the red suit must have been very old, because our history books had described it as the machine which belonged to the former notorious A-LAWS." Coast answered back in a professional tone. "There's also-"

"We're detecting an Earth Forces warship, Commander Aker. They're sending a shuttle towards the Silverwind." a CIC reported. Alex went away from the bridge and into the hangar. "Commander Aker-"

"This isn't the time to hold back while the Earth Forces are violating the Treaty of Antarctica on the treatment of civilians in warzones." Alex spoke back urgently as the door opened and she went down into the hangar. She placed her flight suit on and boarded her custom CGUE as it moved towards the catapult and launched out. "Alexandra Aker, CGUE. Taking off."

The CGUE launched out of the Von Trapp while the shuttle containing Earth Forces soldiers were boarding the Silverwind. Lacus and the Memorial representatives were worried that one of the soldiers might open fire on the representatives, even with the Serpent Tail mercenaries guarding them. Just as her fears were confirmed, an Earth Forces officer starts to ask a representative.

"Are you with ZAFT?"

"No! We're the Junius Seven Memorial representatives. We're not with ZAFT!" the representative protested, but the officer ignored his complaints. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, you patchworker?" the officer asked back bluntly as the soldiers aimed their rifles at them. He then decides to pull his troops back and gave out an order. "Make sure that this ship is destroyed."

"What in the world?" Elijah asked back horrifyingly, but one representative grabbed Lacus and shoved her into Naruto's arms. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Make sure that Ms. Lacus isn't harmed. You guys better get out of here too." the other representative warned. Naruto and Lacus moved away from the cafeteria and into the Silverwind's hangar where the Serpent Tail suits are guarded. They took off in the Ahead while Elijah, Sakura and Hotaru boarded their respective machines and took off, just as an Earth Forces Nelson-class warship fired its guns into the Silverwind, destroying it and killing its representatives as well.

"Man, this is horrible." Naruto winced at the sight of the Silverwind's remains.

Lacus shook a little bit. "This doesn't make sense. They should have at least be courteous as to allow us safe passage towards the Junius Seven memorial."

"Ms. Lacus, this is the reality. No soldier from either side would respect the rules of war, as long as they fulfill their deranged goals." Naruto answered back. The Ahead looked around for any ZAFT ship to go to, but the ships have already moved in another direction, presumably to chase after the offending warship. "The main priority is to get to the nearest warship and seek for some help."

"Where's Hotaru?" Elijah asked curiously. Hotaru's Tieren was nowhere to be seen. "Geez, we're already short of pilots and the Tieren just had to disappear."

"We don't have time for complaining about Hotaru, Elijah." Naruto replied back. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar white mobile suit and opened up the channels. "Maybe that guy can help." He starts to open the communication channels with the Strike. "Kira, is that you?"

"Naruto? What are you doing here? Robert! I've found Naruto!" Kira called out as the Astrea arrived at the scene of the latest battle while the Mistrals are bringing the supplies they've found at the ruins of the space exploration ship back to the Archangel. "What brings you guys here?"

"Could you ask your captain if we could enter the ship? The ship we were on blew up, and we have nowhere to go." Naruto told Kira. The Strike accompanied the Ahead, Enact and Elijah's GINN towards the Archangel. "This is Naruto Uzumaki from the Serpent Tail. Apparently, the ship where we are currently doing our mission was destroyed in battle. We have nowhere to go but to your ship. I'm asking for permission to board the ship."

Inside the Archangel's bridge, Murrue and Natarle were shocked at the appearance of the Ahead. They argued about this very thorny issue while the Ahead waited for permission, and Elijah is currently looking around to see if there is another ship they can go to.

"I won't approve this request. Allowing a mercenary group to seek refuge in this ship is out of the question." Natarle spoke back bluntly to Murrue.

"Look, we had to take in the refugee capsule when it was left adrift. The Serpent Tail doesn't have a ship to go to right now since the civilian ship was obliterated and there aren't any ZAFT ships in the area." Murrue spoke back.

Mu took this opportunity to speak up. "Why not have a vote on whether we should let them in or not?"

"We're already delayed from our journey into Lunar HQ." Natarle answered back in as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "Taking in another set of mobile suits would only complicate matters."

"We've been delayed many times already, Ensign. The fact that we had to stay way longer at Artemis, and continuous fights against ZAFT, I believe the Lunar HQ can wait another couple of days until we get there." Mu offered his possibly best argument he ever had.

Murrue hesitated to speak up at first. Hearing Natarle and Mu's side of the argument didn't really help with her own situation. "I don't know. The top brass may start to worry about whether or not we would even survive."

"Thank you for siding with me, Captain." Natarle spoke up brightly, but Murrue shook her head.

"However, we are the only ones who could take in the Serpent Tail group until their ship can be located. We'll give them permission to dock." Murrue answered back as she turned to the Strike through the comm. "Kira-kun, you may enter with the mobile suits you've accompanied."

"Thanks." Naruto spoke up instead as the Archangel's doors opened and the mobile suits went inside. A couple of Earth Forces soldiers with rifles stood as the Ahead Smultron opened its cockpit. Naruto and Lacus went down from the Ahead as surprised personnel looked at the newcomer. "Wow, it looks like you haven't seen a real princess, haven't you?"

"Not really." Fon said as soon as he climbed out of the Astrea's cockpit. Sakura climbed out of the Enact's cockpit a minute after the Astrea was placed at the side.

"Thanks for the assistance." Lacus climbed out after Naruto and floated down. Naruto and Kira caught her and dragged her down to the ground gently. She looked at Kira's uniform and grew worried. "Oh my, this isn't a ZAFT ship, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so. The white ship is the only ship within the area. We can't find our ships, and all of the ZAFT escort ships have left to pursue the offending Earth Forces warship." Elijah spoke loudly. He joined his fellow Serpent Tail bodyguards, except for the missing Tsuchigumo heiress. "That's what we're worried about."

"How could Hotaru have gone missing?" Sakura asked curiously.

* * *

**ZAFT NAZCA-CLASS WARSHIP _VESALIUS_**

* * *

Athrun and Le Creuset arrived at the dock where the _Vesalius_ is currently going repairs. Defense Chairman Zala was also talking to the White Coated commander as a black haired, blue eyed boy stood beside him. To Athrun and many other ZAFT ex-cadets who went to military school with the Aker twins, Axis Aker was the enigma of the ZAFT forces, though he was looked down upon by his own family, and his sister, Commander Alexandra Aker of the Aker Team stationed in the Von Trapp.

"I assume that you knew what happened to Miss Lacus, right Athrun?" his father asked him. Axis stood and listened. "It isn't publicized yet, but a recon GINN from the Yun Law Team hasn't returned yet."

Le Creuset continued his explanation. "Though we may be searching for Miss Lacus on the Vesalius, we can't pass up an opportunity to search for the legged ship as well. Recently, the Aker team has pursued an Earth Forces vessel within the ruins."

"Everyone in the PLANTs knew that you and Miss Lacus are destined to be together. It's just a question of whether or not the actual interaction may spark into a full fledged romance, but that's not the issue here. The _Vesalius_ can't sit around and do nothing while Miss Lacus is stranded. Even with the Serpent Tail bodyguards that Chairman Clyne has hired as bodyguards, there's no way we could actually be able to search for a civilian ship without starting a fight with the Earth Forces, should they be found in that area." Zala continued on. He turned towards Axis and nodded. "Axis Aker will be joining you with his black GINN. He's known as the Black Scepter of ZAFT because of the amount of mobile armors he's shot down while using his sword only."

"It's an honor to join the famous Commander Le Creuset in this search." Axis replied back and saluted. "Though I'm not as perfect as Alex, I will put all my efforts in helping out in this search."

Zala left the three ZAFT soldiers to their own devices. Athrun was the first one to speak up after his father left.

"So I'm supposed to play the part of the hero, right?"

Creuset spoke back. "It would either be that, or-"

"Or would you rather bring her corpse back while in tears?" Axis spoke suddenly, to their surprise. "Let's go."

The Vesalius proceeded to leave the dock, slowly while avoiding the debris that may fly into their path. Once the Nazca ship has taken off from the dock, it resumed course for the Junius Seven ruins. However, an hour into their search and one CIC had detected something on the radar.

"Sir, we've detected an unidentified mobile suit." he spoke first. Le Creuset and Axis looked up and saw the image of the immobile Tieren. "What's that suit?"

"I believe that's called a Tieren. So the Serpent Tail's excavation mission was true after all." Axis observed the immobile antique. "Should I go and retrieve that machine?"

"By all means. We may be able to get info from the pilot inside." Creuset replied back. Axis didn't need to stand around as he left the bridge quickly.

A minute later, Axis' custom GINN launched out of the Vesalius as he approached the immobile Tieren. He grabbed the bulky mobile suit and moved it towards the Vesalius, although he had a hard time dragging it because of its heavy weight. Once the Vesalius has retrieved the Tieren, the mechanics opened the cockpit. Inside, a blonde haired unconscious girl was found inside. Axis and Athrun dragged her out of the Tieren and brought her to one of the spare rooms.

When the Vesalius resumed its journey, Hotaru woke up from her ordeal and found herself sitting in a bed. Although the room was familiar to the rooms inside the Laurasia warship, the absence of the Serpent Tail crew with the ZAFT soldiers in its place had surprised the Tsuchigumo heir. Athrun entered the spare room and sat down in the chair, looking at the blonde girl.

"The process for captured civilians in ZAFT custody will be to give their names and occupations." Athrun spoke to her.

"Tsuchigumo Hotaru, Serpent Tail member."

"What were you doing in space, inside the mobile suit? You were there when the Silverwind was destroyed, right?" the Zala boy asked back. Hotaru nodded and spoke back.

"An Earth Forces warship had destroyed the Silverwind. Our orders as Serpent Tail members were to guard Miss Lacus Clyne. I believe she's with one of our members."

"I see. So she's not dead, as we feared." Athrun replied back hopefully. He and Hotaru glanced at each other and explained. "Lacus's the woman whom I will eventually marry. Our fathers had arranged for the match."

"Sounds like a match that's predestined. Do you have feelings for her?" Hotaru continued to ask, despite her status as a _de facto_ prisoner. "Have you experienced real love before?"

"Uhh..." Athrun was at loss of words, but Axis entered the room a minute later. "Thanks for coming in, Axis."

"I don't know why you're soft on interrogating a prisoner." he spoke back.

"She's not technically a prisoner. Although I know _now_ that Lacus isn't dead." Athrun replied back.

Axis looked at them skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. She's with a member of the Serpent Tail. My father told me before I arrived at the Vesalius about a boy who knew about the incident three years ago." the blue haired Red Coat referred to the ELS incident back in the PLANTs. "My father also learned that boy who is guarding Lacus was attacked by those shape shifting freaks, and he was also approached by Celestial Being to join them."

Axis tensed up whenever Celestial Being was mentioned. "Wait a minute. My forefather fought against Celestial Being. He came up close so many times, but he was defeated in the end. During the first ELS war, he sacrificed his life in order to allow humanity's first genuine Innovator to enter their mothership. Our family has close ties to Celestial Being, though we're not a part of it."

"Really? No wonder why people are cautious about repeating the past mistakes from the Anno Domini era. I mean, some people didn't want to fight another war after two thousand years of peace." Athrun replied back. Hotaru yawned and attempted to stay awake. "I won't actually interact with her, except when I have to."

"Of course. You don't fraternize with the prisoner excessively. Remember who you're engaged to." Axis added his warning. He and Athrun left Hotaru alone as they returned to the bridge.

* * *

**ARCHANGEL**

* * *

Naruto laid down in a bed, lost in his thoughts while Lacus was interacting with a pink robotic Haro. They were supposed to get their meals, but it didn't arrive, for some odd reason. He decided to get up and go for a walk. He walked by the cafeteria as Flay was in the middle of an argument with Tolle and Miriallia. Kira, Kuzzey and Fon sat down and listened as Flay continues her protest.

"No way I'm giving that tray to her!" Flay insisted angrily.

"Why not? You have to give her the food." Miriallia pleaded with her, but to no avail.

"What's that all about?" Kira asked Kuzzey.

"It's about that girl Naruto brought back. Flay doesn't want to bring the tray to her room." Kuzzey replied back. Fon shook his head and turned towards Naruto. "Hello."

"I'll bring her food if that's gonna make you comfortable." Naruto offered. Flay smiled and nodded as she threw her arms around him. "It's only because you don't want to, and I feel like going for a walk. Seriously, what's wrong with bringing a tray of food to the new girl?"

Flay didn't have to say her opinion in complicated words. "Simple; she's a coordinator."

"You're not bothered around Kira, and he's a coordinator." Naruto pointed out.

"True, but Kira's on our side. He's a special case. That girl's a part of ZAFT, isn't she?" Flay insisted, but Naruto's expression darkened. "Really, he's fighting off ZAFT for us here. You wouldn't be able to-"

"Know? Know, as in know what it's like to reserve special treatment for one person of the same race as the ones he's fighting against? Don't tell me how I wouldn't be able to know. I've witnessed it myself. My ex-best friend was treated because he had a special power and I'm just a pariah to the rest." he replied back darkly. Sakura and Lacus joined in the conversation. "Besides, you can't just resume that the girl whom you're supposed to be giving dinner to is either docile or feral, right? Oh, I've checked the girl you were talking about. No, she isn't wearing even a ZAFT Green Coat."

"My, who's the docile or feral person you're talking about?" Lacus asked suddenly. Naruto turned around and gasped. "I'm so sorry. I just couldn't help but overhear what you guys were talking about."

Everyone present gasped in horror as to how Lacus and her Haro managed to get out. Naruto checked the doors when he went out for a walk and made sure it was completely locked, or someone might enter Lacus' room and even cause harm towards her. It's not like there's someone aboard the Archangel apart from Flay who are notoriously racist towards Coordinators. Of course, no one would anticipate the same scenario, except that Innovators are substituted instead of Coordinators.

"I didn't mean to startle you all. I was also thirsty and couldn't find a drink. Don't make fun of me, please." the pink haired princess explained. Sakura looked at her as if she had been caught stealing a cookie from a cookie jar. "But I'm also hungry too."

"Yeah, I was supposed to bring you some food into your quarters, Your Majesty." Naruto gently bowed and grabbed the tray. "Now-"

"Why is she walking around here as if nothing's happened?" Flay asked suspiciously. Fon stood up and walked slowly towards the group of civilian volunteers. "Someone, please stop her before she hurts me."

"I'm not here freely. I asked someone in the room if they could get some food for me, but no one answered. Also, I'm not ZAFT. ZAFT stands for-" Lacus tried to explain, but Flay cut her off furiously.

"I don't need to know what it means! We're fighting our asses against them. Even so, you're all the same bunch of coordinators!" Flay said angrily while keeping she kept on glaring at Lacus.

"I'm not a soldier though. It just doesn't feel right to just join in the fight when we should be getting along." the pink haired princess replied back, despite Flay's attitude. She looked at Flay's clothes and continued to talk. "You're not a soldier as well, so you and I are the same."

"How are we the same? Also, am I nuts to shake hands with a coordinator?" Flay backs away from Lacus. "I don't want any coordinators getting friendly with me at all!"

Her words had shocked Kira a bit, but Naruto, Sakura, Fon and Elijah were perplexed and curiously shocked at her sudden outburst. Seeing Flay in her prejudiced mood reminded Naruto and Sakura too well of Naraku's prejudiced ideals regarding people with kekkei genkai and those who are jinchuurikis. To Naraku, anyone with an unusual bloodline is considered a freak of nature and deserved to be exterminated. Of course, his tiny Root ANBU aren't strong enough to seize power but their radical, racial ideals were seriously threatening the unity of the entire shinobi world. The same kind of prejudice on a different picture in regards to coordinators, and innovators too if possible, may also be harmful to the unity of humanity itself.

"Flay...I didn't know you were that hardcore in your hatred towards coordinators. Imagine if you were alone with a bunch of Innovators as well." Fon commented, but his remarks only infuriated the redheaded girl.

"Innovators...they're probably the same as Coordinators. All of them, Innovators and Coordinators, they're not real humans at all, are they?" Flay asked Fon, but he was at loss of words in his reaction to her actions. She turned towards Robert and recoiled when she realized that she was talking to Fon and not another person who disagreed with her. "I'm sorry for my outburst."

"Well, tell that to Ms. Lacus over there. Then again, I guess you don't want to." Fon said as Kira grabbed the food tray and the three Serpent Tail members escorted Lacus back to her room. Fon himself went over to his room and secretly contacted the Ptolemaios 3. "This is Fon."

"Fon?" Reena Carmine's voice crackled from the other line. "Hello, there. What can we do for you?"

"Oh, Reena. Get Tieria on the line for me, please. Make sure that Leif, grape skittle and jovial dope are there to hear what I'm about to say as well." Fon ordered the erstwhile tactical forecaster. Fifteen minutes later, Tieria was facing Fon through the same phone he's always using. "Hello, Mr. Erde. I'm just dropping by to say that you guys may have to intervene in an upcoming battle that may involve the Archangel."

"Why did you drag us for this trivial request?" Tieria asked furiously.

"What if I said that Lacus Clyne, the daughter of PLANT Chairman Siegel Clyne was aboard the Archangel and some officers might try to use her as a barganing chip? They're trying to promote conflict and stop it at the same time by threatening her life, if they did that." Fon replied back, to the shock of the other meisters. "By the way, Naruto's also here. He didn't spill the beans on us, and yet you still have the explosive necklace on his neck."

"It's for security measures. And did you say Clyne?" Regene asked back, to Tieria's irritation. "Well, Fon. You've got a delicate situation here. Tieria would know about this kind of incident."

"Of course I have. For the record, Setsuna and Lockon were at Azadistan when the two warring sides were fighting each other." the purple haired Meister of Hermos spoke back. "What brought this up?"

"Apparently, there's a girl with a prejudiced behavior towards coordinators. You know, the enhanced humans. Anyways, she refused to shake hands with her, and she also refused to bring food to her. As a result, Naruto and that Kira kid had to bring her back to the room. I'm only saying this because prejudice is something Celestial Being doesn't tolerate, right?"

Tieria nodded. "True. I mean, what kind of humans would actually manufacture genes as if it was a commodity? I can understand Ribbons' desire to use Bring and Devine clones to attack us, but to actually create an enhanced human just for nothing. That's really-"

"Moreover, the Ultimate Coordinator project was seen by VEDA as potentially liable to the peace we've worked so hard to achieve. Nowadays, we're getting reports from VEDA about coordinator attacks. This is so senseless." Hixar jumped into the conversation. "We've already placed Blue Cosmos under organizations to take out."

"Yeah. We've weeded out the bigots from Celestial Being, both Naturals and Coordinators on the grounds that their inability to get along would threaten the organization's makeup. I could see where those bigots are coming from. It does sound like a distortion, but we'll have to live with it. Of course, the same thing should be mentioned regards to Innovators in general." Leif added his opinions.

Fon nodded. "I'd better go now. Just call me if you guys want to accept this mission. After all, I am the observer for Celestial Being." He hunged up the phone and went back outside.

In Lacus' room, the Serpent Tail members and Kira have placed their tray of food into the table and sat down on their chairs. Fon joined them a minute later as the Haro bounced around nonchalantly. The sight of the Haro reminded Fon too well of his old friend Hanayo, who was also a Haro but her true form was a girl with a cat tail.

"Is it troublesome to leave this room? I'm so bored, even Haro isn't quiet." Lacus asked everyone present.

Naruto nodded. "I suppose. Not many people on this ship are fond of coordinators, especially after what happened to Heliopolis."

"Plus this is an Earth Forces ship. Naruto's already hit the nail on anti-coordinator resentment, so it isn't safe here. Technically, we're supposed to be enemies." Kira added. The Haro bounced on Lacus' head before it landed into her palm.

"But you're a kind boy. I've yet to thank you people from the Serpent Tail for being with me." Lacus replied back as she smiled. "I heard that my dad has hired your organization to protect me. He even told me something peculiar that's happened."

"I'm...I'm a coordinator as well." Kira confessed, as his voice sounded like he was about to cry.

"Hold it in, young man. Remember, you're a real man now." Elijah advised the Ultimate Coordinator. Lacus turned her gaze towards Naruto as her eyes met his dark blue eyes and sensed something inside. "You're fighting in a real war, so this isn't the time to cry."

"You don't seem to look like a boy who just fights without a reason, do you?" she asked curiously. Naruto and Sakura were confused and surprised at her sudden outburst. "I'm sorry to pry into your inner life, but your eyes look like it has an inner turmoil inside. Something that's distorted, like an alter ego of yourself."

"Man, she's good." Naruto whispered to Sakura admirably and nodded. "You don't look like a girl who has faced traumatic events at all."

"Well, my mother died when I was a little girl. Other than that, there's nothing much that I can say about traumatic experiences. There is something that I wished to ask you: why do you and your friends fight a battle like it was just a typical day's work?" Lacus wondered. "We know all about the Serpent Tail. They're mercenaries, and they only take missions that will have the highest bidder. I think everyone should learn to understand each other before making a decision whether or not they should like each other."

"Unfortunately, that isn't the case in this world." Naruto spoke up suddenly. "I can tell that you've had a comfortable life."

"Naruto, is this necessary? We're supposed to protect the client, not get into arguments with them." Sakura reminded her former teammate, but Naruto raised his hand in order to silence her so he could continue talking.

"A comfortable life, and away from the harsh reality of this world. You say that I have a distorted turmoil within myself, but how can you prove that when you don't have proof?" he continued to challenge her. "I'm sorry if I was out of line, but-"

"I can understand if you didn't have a comfortable life. The way you talked to me about life in general, it sounds as if you had a rough life. It's terrible." Lacus deduced, again surprising everyone. "This is awkward...I haven't learned of your names yet."

"Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki's the last name. I would be addressed by my first name first, and then the last name."

"Haruno Sakura. Like what Naruto said, it also applies to me as well."

"Elijah Kiel."

"Kira Yamato."

"A pleasure to meet you all. I didn't know that you were also a coordinator, Mr. Yamato. I wonder if it must be hard for you to fight against ZAFT, which are primarily composed of coordinators, isn't that right?" the pink haired princess asked Kira. He nodded in disappointment.

"Of course. Also, the war that we're all fighting right now. Unless we can negotiate some sort of truce, they will come." Lacus continued. This time, no one spoke out about which organization she is referring to. "They don't care about negotiations as long as they can eliminate conflict. I'm sure that you don't like to negotiate as well, do you, Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto answered back, despite Sakura's protest. "We were taught not to show emotions, not to trust anyone, and especially to see everyone around us as potential enemies. We learned how to kill at such a young age and to learn that in our homeland, there is no such thing as friendships."

"Naruto, that's the ideals the Root shinobi were indoctrinated in." Sakura replied back aghastly, though she too, remembered the teachings she heard from her mentors. "Although that's what we also learned too, when we're young."

"It's sad to hear such horrible stories. The same principle applies to those armed interventionists who cared little about negotiations. Do they believe that they're gods, stopping conflict with more conflict?"

"While talks are being held, people die." Naruto said darkly. Lacus continued to explain her opinions, but Kira intervened instead.

"But we've tried our best to reconcile with the Naturals. Using force to defend our independence isn't the answer. We need to understand each other first, and I feel sorry for those people who have no love for peace." she spoke back.

"It was ZAFT who destroyed Heliopolis where the G-weapons were being built. It was at Heliopolis where Athrun and I met again after a long time, but we're enemies this time." Kira interjected. He could still remember Athrun's reaction to his presence alongside the Archangel. "To make matters worse, he asks me why we're fighting each other when we should fight side by side."

Lacus was also saddened and surprised at the same time when Kira mentioned Athrun's name. "So you do know him. The man I will eventually marry, Athrun Zala."

"Yeah. He was my best friend since prep school." Kira admitted.

"Despite your unfortunate circumstance, the PLANTs and the Orb Union sought to repair the strained relations because of this incident. Wait a minute, you were all at Heliopolis when it happened, weren't you?" Lacus said. Elijah yawned and laid down in the bed.

"Well, that was exactly when we first took the immigrants into our organization. Anyways, you should calm down now, Naruto. We don't want this argument to get out of hand, now do you?" Elijah tried to defuse the situation. Naruto relented and sat down. "That's better."

"I'm so sorry about Naruto's outburst, Ms. Lacus. He wasn't well liked when we were young. I can also remember that he didn't have anyone to play with, and no friends to hang out with. Even with Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji around him, their parents didn't feel comfortable around him. Heck, even I wasn't comfortable as well." Sakura admitted. Suddenly, Sai entered the room to find everyone hanging out. "Hi."

"Kira." Sai called out as Kira went towards him. "I heard about what happened with Flay from Milly. I'll have a talk with her later on."

Lacus begins to sing one of the songs she sang at her previous concert a long ago. Elijah was familiar with her songs since he had a friend who often played the same songs to calm him down. Now that his friend is gone missing, there's no way to tell if he had survived the war or if he died.

"Goud...he used to listen to those songs when his alter ego took over." Elijah said suddenly. "Goud Veia was a good friend of mine, and he suffered from bipolar disorder. I wonder what became of him?"

* * *

**NAZCA-CLASS WARSHIP _VESALIUS_**

* * *

Athrun and Axis were standing around the lounge, looking down at the hangar from where they were standing. Hotaru joined them, mostly because Le Creuset ordered Athrun to look after her, and to make sure she didn't get in the way of the other ZAFT soldiers. The Vesalius was joined by the Von Trapp, which of course, would result in Axis' inevitable clash with Alexandra, despite being in the same army.

"So the _Von Trapp_ is here too. Looks like I have to settle this grudge match against Alex once and for all." Axis spoke silently, but Athrun was able to hear what he's saying.

"Axis, we're supposed to look for Lacus, not instigate fights with other ZAFT soldiers." he reminded the black haired 'defect'. "Besides, you and Alex are on the same side."

"Yet my own parents favored _her_ over _me_. What's wrong with sibling rivalry if it's going to be settled with mobile suits? What about you? You have a friend on the other side of the battlefield, and you're hesitant in fighting _him_."

"He's a coordinator." Athrun insisted, but Axis shook his head.

"He's also a traitor if he turned his gun on his own people. How could you have a friend who actually killed someone belonging to his own kind? You think that he's a naive boy who's being manipulated by the Naturals. Can you tell that to the recon GINN who lost his life? I may not know who your friend is, but by the looks on your face and the way Nicol and my sister had described the white mobile suit, no Natural can pilot that machine as good as us." Axis replied back firmly. "Athrun, you need to ask yourself whether or not you will have to shoot your best friend if he refuses to join us. By the looks of things, he would never want to leave the friends he's made while living amongst Naturals.

Athrun frowned and looked down. "I know I can convince him to see the errors of his ways. Kira-"

"So that's his name. Kira, isn't it? I can understand if you saw him at the ruins of Heliopolis. After all, it's no surprise that Orb accepts Coordinators in their borders and would even have them fighting in the Orb forces." Axis deduced. He grinned and placed his arm on Athrun's shoulder. "This is what I call coming to the crossroads of destiny."

* * *

OK, the interaction between Naruto and Lacus has begun. I admit, I could have done better with the interaction, but this is just the beginning. Eventually, Lacus would be tested with something a lot more harsh, realistic and maybe uncomfortable.

Also, I've started to look for suitable beta readers for proofreading this fic, and so far, there's one possible match. Eventually, I will get my beta reader good enough to edit and look over my fic.

Finally, a re-run on how this fic works in terms of connections between Naruto, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED:

- Naruto+Gundam 00: One of the planets where the ELS have settled could be the Elemental Nations. The Dimension Country was the place where people would worship deities that could transform into any metallic shape. Also, one of Setsuna's descendants is found here. Obviously, you should know who it is by now.

- Naruto+Gundam SEED: The main theater of the entire fic, and a parallel between Naruto and Kira. Naruto had a crush on Sakura, the same way Kira had a crush on Flay. Eventually, they fell in love with a princess figure, Naruto with Hinata and Kira with Lacus. Of course, this is the canon series, and we're talking about non-canon Dimensional Innovation. Naraku's hatred to any human with bloodlines mirrors that of the Naturals' hatred towards coordinators.

- Gundam 00+Gundam SEED: The Cosmic Era timeline happens two thousand years after the events in Anno Domini. Yes, the Reconstruction War happened in the AD era, precisely when the Earth Sphere Federation would start its own decline due to George Glenn's presence and when the ELS has destroyed all GN based components as to prevent the Earth Forces from using it to choke the PLANTs int submission. More will be told later on.


	10. To Make the Right Choice

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Ten: To Make the Right Choice**_

"We've got three Earth Forces warships heading towards the legged ship."

Athrun and Axis heard about the report as soon as the CIC in charge spotted the three ships. What they didn't know was that one of the ships contained a very important Earth Alliance official named George Allster. Even if they had known about this revelation, no one in ZAFT would have cared if the notoriously bigoted bastard had died or not.

The _Vesalius _stood beside the _Von Trapp_. Both ship's captains had to make sure that the Aker siblings are well restrained (or more likely, they had to make sure that Axis was restrained, seeing as how Alex was capable of restraining herself) and didn't get into fights. Alex herself became aware of the rare opportunity to not only destroy the three ship advance fleet, but the Archangel as well. So, she had prepped up her CGUE in case the opportunity presented itself.

"We're moving closer to the enemy fleet. They will be alert and armed because we destroyed one of their ships," Alex warned the crew of the _Von Trapp_. "We have to beat the _Vesalius _to the finish line, or we won't be able to win our little rivalry against the _Vesalius_ and its crews."

"You mean, you want to beat Axis in this game, even though this is war?" Jaden Tanner asked back. Alex nodded and smirked.

"Oh, Jaden. You're the smart guy around here. Where's Cyrus?" she asked. A minute later, the Iranian returned to the bridge along with a new crew member, of Egyptian descent. "Cyrus, who's the new member?"

"This is Isis Meferu-Ishtar. She just completed her training at the ZAFT academy, and she was sent here to join us. She's a pilot of a GINN High Maneuver," Cyrus answered back. "She's also one of my best friends."

"A pleasure to meet you." Alex saluted to the new red coat. "I'm your new commanding officer, Alexandra Aker-"

"Ah! I may have heard about you. One of my ancestors was a part of the Solbrave Squadron. Naguib Neferu," the Egyptian answered in a surprised tone. Alex was surprised at this new information. "I will be joining you as of now."

"That's good-"

"What's going on right now?" Cyrus asked curiously.

"it appears that the enemy's three ship fleet has no intention of slowing down. They really are moving towards the legged ship," Alex answered back, "Activate all weapons and make sure that they're aimed at the warships. The_Vesalius_will fire after our ship has launched its attack. Relay this message to the _Vesalius _immediately."

Inside the _Vesalius_, Axis wasn't surprised by the message his sister had sent to the _Vesalius_ and mumbled, "Typical tactic, sister."

"Axis!" Axis turned around and saw Athrun move towards him. "Are we launching yet?"

"We'd better. Otherwise Alex would call the shots and boss us around," Axis replied darkly, "and she would do it despite the fact that Le Creuset is the overall leader of this task force."

"It can't be helped. You, Alex and Le Creuset have more experience than I do, but she outranks Le Creuset because of experience. We have to live with that kind of reality," Athrun replied back as they climbed inside their mobile suits. "We'll get our orders to launch soon."

"We'd better," Axis answered back with a pessimistic tone. "But how long do we have to wait until we actually get out?"

"All mobile suits, you're cleared to launch."

Axis grinned as soon as he heard the order. "Axis Aker, GINN. Taking off!"

"Athrun Zala, Aegis. Launching!"

Once the Aegis and Axis's GINN launched out of the _Vesalius_, they joined the other Aker sibling who had already launched with her own team. Just as Axis had suspected, Alex had a squad that used the High Maneuver versions of the GINN while the leader used a custom CGUE that was three times faster than the new CGUE Deep Arms. Axis readied his rifle as he and Athrun raced to join the other Aker team.

"Even though we're looking for Lacus, we would certainly get killed in the long run if we missed this opportunity to sink the legged ship," Axis warned Athrun. "We're moving out."

"Roger."

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

**

* * *

**

Tieria had returned from a briefing regarding the mission Fon Spaak had personally requested to be done when Regene had left the VEDA chamber that was installed inside the ship. His twin had learned that the Revive and Anew type Innovades were close to completion, and would be activated as soon as possible. Since Tieria and Regene had taken over VEDA, they decided to place a special rule on the Anew type Innovade, just so that she could have a normal life, despite VEDA's order to disappear every ten years. Tieria was more concerned about the Revive type Innovade, since he caused a lot of trouble, as much as Hilling Care did.

"Regene, how long until this ship arrives at the target location?" Leif asked Regene.

"Shortly. Besides, we may be able to see what Fon's up to now," Regene replied back, but Leif suddenly clutched his head, indicating that he's in pain. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing much. I feel as though something is out there to take over my body again," Leif groaned painfully.

Regene frowned. "It can't be Beside Pain again. You practically took him out."

"I know that, but he has the ability to upload his own personality into other Innovades too. There was a clone of Sky Eclipse that was taken over by Beside, but that clone died after he uploaded himself," Leif replied back.

"We're getting close," Tieria reported through his Quantum Brainwaves. "Get into your Gundams."

Every Meister started to move towards the hangar as the Gundams were being prepped up for combat. According to Fon's predictions, the mission would commence while the battle was still occurring, with possible losses to both sides. Moreover, a few mobile suits from the _Vesalius _and _Von Trapp _would show up in an attempt to rescue Lacus Clyne. All of Celestial Being didn't know about the Aker family, other than Setsuna. However, he only acknowledged Graham Aker as his worthy but one sided opponent.

"Two Nazca-class warships have been detected. They're the _Vesalius _and _Von Trapp_," Demetrius Vashti reported.

"Good. All Gundams, prepare to launch immediately!" Reena ordered.

"Roger that," Tieria acknowledged. "Tieria Erde, Hermos. Taking off."

"Hixar Fermi, Dagonet, locked on the target."

"Regene Regetta, Tristan. Taking off."

"Leif Recitativo, Diabound. Eliminating targets."

All four Gundams took off from the Ptolemaios 3 and flew in the direction of the ZAFT warships. Tieria noticed the Archangel had opened its catapults and launched the Strike and Fon's Astrea as the Hermos led its squad towards the white warship, but they had to keep a good distance away from the battle.

"About time you got here," Fon told Tieria. "One of the warships contains the father of Flay Allster. The Vice Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation, George Allster."

"That man? Out of all men who had to get involved in a battle, it had to be him." Hixar readied the sniper rifle, but the Diabound was immobile. "Leif?"

Leif moaned and groaned as his head was throbbing. "What's this painful headache?"

**"C'mon, let me take over. You haven't gotten rid of me yet, Leif Recitativo****,****"**the other voice called inside Leif's head.**"We have work to do, and we cannot allow the main branch of Celestial Being to succeed if we are to create a bit of chaos around the battlefield."**

"Go away! I thought I got rid of you!" Leif shouted back.

**"But I'm very hard to get rid of. Besides, you should know my ability to download my persona into other Innovades too, Leif****,****" **Beside Pain managed to take over the body he once lost control. **"I'm not gonna lose this body ever again, you hear?"**

"Leif?" Hixar asked, but gasped in horror as he heard a shockingly familiar voice. "Oh no, that voice. It's Beside Pain!"

"What?" Tieria asked back shockingly. "Who's he?"

"That guy's a nut job version of Ribbons Almark. He has a split personality, like Haptism. Only his is much far worse. He can upload or download his personality into another terminal, making him a cyber immortal," Hixar answered back as he recalled his battle against such a troublesome opponent. "I can see the white mobile suit engaging the Aegis."

"Look out!" Regene shouted out as a stray shot from Axis came close to hitting them. "That machine..."

"Mobile suits? With a solar furnace?" Axis wondered as he and Athrun shot down a couple of mobile armors. "Shit, it must be them. Celestial Being. Even with the masked Gundam face, I can tell by your solar reactors, Gundams!"

"There's another one," Athrun spotted a warship and destroyed it. He turned towards the Astrea as it grabbed its beam saber and clashed blades. "Wait a minute. This isn't the white mobile suit, and that's not Kira inside."

"Oh? You want to know where your friend Kira is? Tell me, Aegis pilot. What is so special about my good friend Kira?" Fon asked back as the Aegis was kicked aside by the Astrea. "Are you trying to lure him into ZAFT, even though he pretty much betrayed his own people just to protect his friends?"

"Why you..." Athrun growled, but the Strike fired its beam rifle to intervene.

"So Naruto and the Serpent Tail guys aren't launching at all because of their mission to protect Miss Lacus? That's fine. I can focus on getting rid of that incoming CGUE!" Fon cackled and fired the beam rifle at Alex's CGUE. "What's so special about that CGUE?"

"A Gundam...I see. So you're Celestial Being." Alex replied back and smirked. "If you're Celestial Being, then maybe I should try to capture your machine, huh Gundam?"

"Tch. Not a chance in church, man," Fon answered back and continued to fire the beam rifle at Alex's CGUE. "Such persistence. Kira!"

Athrun and Kira traded beam rifle fire at each other and clashed blades at the same time. Fon on the other hand, was busy trying to lure the CGUE piloted by Alex away from the battlefield and would have succeeded if it hadn't been for Axis's intervention as he fired his rifle at the CGUE, forcing Alex to clash blades with him. Fon went back towards the Aegis and Strike, stalling for time until Celestial Being could intervene and possibly destroy both the Earth Forces and ZAFT fleet.

"You wanted a rematch, brother? I assure you, you will not win," Alex grabbed her sword and clashed blades with Axis.

"You're the one to talk," Axis spat back and kicked the CGUE aside. Alex gained control quickly and slammed the sword into Axis's shield as he flipped to the side and slammed his own blade into the other sword. "You, Mom and Dad have treated me like trash for too long, I've had enough of this treatment."

"Well, that's the way it works, Axis. You were born a defect, so we do have the right to distance ourselves from such a defective human being," Alex replied back maliciously, but Axis swung the sword into her cockpit. "That's not gonna work on me!"

The CGUE kicked the GINN's sword aside and grabbed it before lunging towards him. Axis paused for a moment and waited for Alex to try and stab him before he can(could) flip her over and possibly kill her. His GINN kicked the CGUE again, repeatedly until Alex regained control of her machine and sent the GINN flying into the asteroid. Both siblings continued to fight each other as furiously as possible, not giving in to each other lest they be labeled as a defect themselves.

"My entire family...they're never gonna be sorry for what they did," Axis snarled back at Alex.

Alex turned to her own ship. "_Von Trapp_, I want you to launch an attack on the last ship. If we can kill that bigoted bastard Allster then the better."

"Roger that."

Inside the Archangel, Flay frantically asked for her father's ship, despite the fact that Sai was trying to restrain her from looking for her father. Murrue and Natarle reminded her not to enter the bridge while in the middle of a battle. One of the CICs reported the damage Mu's Moebius had taken and that it was returning to the ship. Just outside, the Serpent Tail group could see trouble lying ahead, with Naruto and Elijah taking care of their own provisions.

"Where's that boy, Kira? He said everything was going to be OK," Flay asked frantically.

"He's doing the best he can. However, he's up against the Aegis, so it won't go well," Sai answered back sadly. "Still, he's doing all he can."

"But Kira promised me that daddy's gonna be fine!" Flay insisted. Once she and Sai were out of the bridge, she turned towards the room where Lacus was staying and grabbed her and returned to the bridge. "If they fire at my dad's ship, I'll kill this girl!"

Naruto and Sakura arrived at the bridge, shocked at what Flay had just done. "Take it easy, Flay. You don't want to do this."

Unfortunately, the _Von Trapp_ and _Vesalius_fired their guns at the same time and their beams hit the Montgomery, right at the bridge. George Allster died without having to see his daughter one last time as the ship begins to explode. Just outside the battlefield, Leif's own Diabound raced towards the Archangel while cloaked in its own device to make sure it wasn't detected.

"Just stop this fight, Axis. We have a ship to sink!" Athrun shouted to the male Aker.

"Commander Aker, we're moving towards the legged ship!" Cyrus called out to his commander while launching inside the High Maneuver. What they were about to hear would forever anger them.

"Attention, all ZAFT forces. Currently in our custody is PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne. We came across the life pod and took her in for humanitarian reasons, along with the Serpent Tail members who were assigned as her bodyguards. However, should you decide on attacking this ship, we shall take this as an abandonment of your responsibilities to protect her. Therefore, we will take care of this situation as we see fit!" Natarle announced. "We may also have to take care of her bodyguards as well, in any way we see fit too."

For once, Alex wasn't smirking or grinning. Her reaction to the news was a bit shocking. "How could they? Cowards! Do you have no honor at all? Or have you sacrificed your honor for victory?"

"See how despicable they are Kira? Can you justify fighting alongside those cowards?" Athrun asked back angrily. "I'll do my best to rescue her."

"Athrun…" Kira whispered, but didn't have time to defend himself as another mobile suit snuck behind him and aimed the beam rifle in the back. "What in the world?"

**"Ah, so the mighty legged ship has resorted to dirty tricks in order to survive. A fitting strategy for a cornered animal with no options left****,****"**Beside Pain sneered and licked his lips. The rest of the masked mobile suits appeared at the battlefield.**"Besides, we're here to make sure that you pay a heavy price should you kill the daughter of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, along with the Serpent Tail guards who tagged along with her. Of course, one of them is a boy who should have joined us. Or rather, the boys that should have joined us instead of fighting each other."**

"What's going on?" Natarle asked, but Miriallia gasped.

"Our radars and all other communications equipment are being jammed!" Miriallia reported. "It's the same thing with the ZAFT ships! Yet, we're hearing the transmission."

**"Correct! Now that we have your attention, perhaps I should address your concerns regarding an issue with turning a civilian girl into a POW. That action's really cowardly, but then again, Naturals are cowards****,****"**Beside continued to talk.

"That's telling them!" a GINN pilot yelled savagely.

"Leif, could you stop your crazy alter ego from talking?" Tieria asked angrily. "You both are making things worse here."

**"Of course it has to get worse! Tieria Erde, I'm taking over Leif's body for now****,****"**Beside cackled. Fon arrived and aimed his beam rifle at the Diabound.**"Fon Spaak, long time no chat. I wonder why are you aiming your rifle at your own comrade?"**

"I am doing this not because I want to kill my comrade, but because you're annoying," Fon growled. He turned towards the Archangel and yelled. **"**How could you turn a lost girl into a hostage? What would you accomplish with that kind of action?"

"We had to resort to drastic measures. Emergency situations call for emergency solutions," Natarle defended her actions.

Fon slammed his fist into the cockpit. "Bullshit! You just did it because you were backed into the corner, without any other options! Why did you allow a bigoted bitch to enter the bridge and turn the girl into a hostage? You could have the power to stop her!"

"Mr. Stad, remember your place-"

"Remember my place? My place? I'll tell you my place. I'm sorry, Tieria, if I have to do this. My name's Fon Spaak, reserve Gundam Meister of Celestial Being, and a student of Heliopolis. Yes, I am the same Gundam Meister that has been frozen in a cryogenic capsule for two thousand years so I could help restore balance to the universe when the Bloody Valentine War broke out. Should you proceed to take care of Lacus Clyne in any way you see fit, I will personally blow up this ship. As for the Serpent Tail guards, they can rejoin their ship or join us," Fon replied back in an angry tone. He turned towards Tieria and spoke back. "Now do you realize why I had to request for you guys to intervene? So they would be dissuaded from doing something stupid that could potentially escalate the war to the point where we could no longer intervene at all."

"Using a civilian as a hostage...that's clearly unforgivable," Hixar replied back and aimed his sniper rifle at the Archangel. He fired it at the CIWS and Gottfrieds as they blew up, while Leif/Beside used its GN Sword to cut away the cannons on both the _Vesalius_ and the _Von __Trapp_. "Be grateful we didn't decide to destroy your ships."

Naruto grabbed Lacus away from Flay's grip and went back to her room along with Elijah and Sakura. However, the battle wasn't completely done yet as Athrun found himself under attack by the Tristan and Hermos as Axis joined his comrade and Alex went back to the damaged _Von Trapp_. The Aegis dodged the beams coming from the Hermos as Tieria grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades.

"I gotta thank you for getting us to intervene here, Fon. Now I can take this opportunity to capture the Aegis and force the Zala boy to join us," Tieria fired the shoulder cannons.

"Like I'll join you when hell freezes over," Athrun snarled back. "I'm going to rescue Lacus from the Earth Forces. Don't get in my way!"

"I'm afraid I will have to get in your way. We know all about you, Athrun Zala," Tieria replied back stoically. "You and your family could have contributed to maintaining the peace we worked hard to attain, but your family decided to fan the flames of war. I don't know why you would try to aim a gun at somebody. Even if this is war, we are going to use armed force to stop all conflicts, including this fight."

"Do you think you're gods, stopping wars with more war? You're a contradiction! It's no wonder why my family refused to join you!" Athrun snapped back.

"Even if you do refuse to join us at first, you will have changed your mind by then. For now, I suggest you enjoy your status as a ZAFT soldier," Tieria moved away from the battlefield as the rest of the Gundams joined the Hermos in fleeing the battlefield.

"Retreat from this war zone immediately!" Alex ordered both ships as Athrun and Axis entered the _Vesalius_. "We're gonna need to have our ships repaired."

* * *

**ARCHANGEL**

**

* * *

**

A few days later, Flay got up from her hospital bed and cried on Sai's shoulder. Earlier on, she had witnessed her father's death at the hands of ZAFT, and the ensuing trouble that had followed when Natarle threatened to use Lacus as a hostage (though Flay herself wanted to kill the pink haired coordinator in retaliation for her father's death), that was when Celestial Being showed itself. To make matters worse, she and the other Heliopolis students had finally learned that their friend Robert Stad Jr., was in fact Fon Spaak of Celestial Being, and he was over two thousand years old.

"Flay," Sai tried to soothe her as Kira, Miriallia and the Serpent Tail guards entered. "I'm not sure if this is the right time."

"You...you said you'd protect my dad's ship! You promised me that he would be safe!" Flay cried out to Kira and glared. "You didn't keep your promise, did you? It's because you're a coordinator too!"

"That's enough!" Naruto shouted. "I don't know why you've decided to blame Kira for your father's death, but I can assure you that he didn't pull the trigger."

"But he's a coordinator! I've finally seen with my own eyes that coordinators killed my father. Kira didn't fight seriously because he's fighting a coordinator," Flay continued to cry. This time, Fon entered the room and sat down. "As for you, how could you lie to us about your past? All this time, you didn't tell us about your past because you're a member of Celestial Being. Why didn't you say anything? I bet that you were a spy aboard this ship."

"Look, I'm not thrilled that I had to reveal what I was really doing, but that's for the best. We intervene in wars and stop them with more force. I know it's a contradiction, but that's the way we were brought up!" Fon yelled back, while he glared back. "You on the other hand, used scapegoats like Kira and Lacus for your problems. I don't see why we should be friends any longer. Moreover, I am tempted to blow this ship to kingdom come."

"Then why didn't you do it?" Flay yelled again. "At least you could have put us...or me, out of my misery."

"I can't do that. If I did, then I'd just be as bad as Badguirel or even Le Creuset. I may have sunk as low as to threaten to blow up this ship, but at least I can restrain myself, which is something that you obviously lack. If you want to regain my respect and friendship, you will have to work extremely hard to change yourself. You have to fight your own fears and your own worst enemy," Fon advised her. "You are your own worst enemy, and you have to overcome that self. I believe in you because...because...because I care."

"Naruto?" Elijah asked back, but Naruto moved to the same room where Lacus was staying. He sat down and looked at her.

"Have you learned your lesson from that tragedy?" he asked.

Lacus frowned. "I don't know why that girl decided to threaten me even if I didn't do anything bad to her. I can see that she's confused and lonely."

"Cut the crap, Lacus. Obviously, you didn't learn from that experience at all," Naruto upholstered his newly issued gun. Lacus eyed the pistol suspiciously and with a scared look. "I am going to test you, OK?"

"OK, so what's that gun doing here then?" Lacus asked back. Naruto issued out an order.

"I want you to pick up that gun and point it at me."

Lacus recoiled at the order. Growing up as a pacifist, the idea of carrying a gun went against her beliefs. "I don't think that's the solution-"

"Pick up the gun," Naruto repeated, "and point it at my chest. Then, I want you to shoot me with that gun."

"No, this isn't right. Isn't there any other way?" Lacus asked back. She slowly grabbed the gun and pointed it at him, but hesitated to pull the trigger. She placed the gun down and looked away. "This isn't right at all."

Naruto sighed and grabbed a kunai. He placed it on the table. "I see that you hesitated to pick up a gun and shoot me. Now then, will you pick up the kunai and thrust it into your own neck?"

"Please, don't make me do this," Lacus pleaded.

"Look, I know that you don't want to do this, but I need you to grab the kunai and put it into your throat," Naruto insisted. Lacus slowly reached her hand for the kunai and hesitated to even pick it up. "All right, stop now."

"Mr. Uzumaki, I don't know why you told me to do these horrible things," Lacus asked curiously, and with a tone of frustration. "Asking me to do something horrible, why would you even suggest that I do that?"

Naruto closed his eyes and paused. It's true that he may regret his decision to test Lacus with such a horrible assessment. However, he had a motive in making these odd demands that could have ended in an argument for two people. After he opened his eyes, he saw Lacus' facial expression and nodded in satisfaction.

"I want to see the real Lacus Clyne. I know that you have the ability to see into other people, but you haven't used your ability to see into yourself. The things that I've told you to do, my purpose was to see how you would react if you were defenseless and you couldn't even use a weapon to defend yourself. Now that I've seen your reactions to the things I've dared you to do, I can see that you have failed to understand the one fundamental fact: that in war, you cannot escape from the chaos and suffering around you. Failure to adhere to reality is like an inadvertent malice," Naruto answered back.

"Still, it was horrible for you to suggest for me to do such things," Lacus replied back.

"Yes...it was indeed horrible. However, that was just a test. What if your life was in danger? What if you were attacked and you couldn't defend yourself? You would die, for sure. Hesitation can lead into a quick death," Naruto advised her. He sat down beside her and looked at the pink Haro. "Flay Allster threatened to kill you unless her father's ship wasn't attacked. You didn't react like a frightened person would normally react. You may have good ideals, but they're worthless if you can't stand up for them."

"I saw her emotions. She was troubled," she told him. She remembered Flay's frantic cry for her father to live, and the shots from both Nazca-class warships that tragically ended George Allster's life. Most of the ZAFT soldiers were probably celebrating at the fact that they killed a member of Blue Cosmos. "She only wanted to be with her dad. If I saw my dad in danger, I'd cry out for him to live."

"Yes...that is true. Going back to ideals, they're worthless if you can't fight to defend for what you believe in. That's how revolutions break out, because a group of people want to fight for what they believe in, even if they had to die. Nations are shaped through time because they can fight not only to defend their ideals, but to protect for what they believe in. If I recall, there was a revolution where colonists didn't want to be ruled by a king anymore and strove to govern by themselves. That was how the United States of America was born. All revolutions in the world may be violent, but they are necessary in order to bring in the wave of reform. The PLANTs are no exception to this fundamental fact," Naruto explained carefully. "I don't know about this, but I can tell that we all want to live peacefully. And that peace cannot be kept by force alone. It must come through understanding. There are many paths to understanding and people have lost their way. Misunderstandings occur and conflicts break out. Two groups of peoples cannot live side by side just because they're different. In the shadows, there are those who strive to keep up the conflict."

"That's horrible. I do understand Defense Chairman Zala's reasons for escalating the war in order to bring it to its end. His tactics aren't right; people would(will) die fighting, and for what?" Lacus asked back.

"You've gotta understand, lots of people want to avenge the deaths of their loved ones. Athrun may have told you about how he lost his mom in the Bloody Valentine. I don't know much more about this. I heard it from Kira, but he has a justification for continuing the war, fighting for the right of coordinators to exist. What if he didn't push for the escalation of the conflict? The PLANTs would be obliterated without remorse. Truthfully, the Earth Alliance Forces are very bad, and they did succeed in bringing about the demise of the Earth Sphere Federation. Moreover, I have an enemy here who wished to kill both me and my former best friend because he wanted to fight for a world his grandfather envisioned. Here again, is where we must ask ourselves: should our beliefs be worth fighting for if they're the right ones? If our beliefs are wrong, do we change them or keep fighting for them, even though they're wrong?"

"I think everyone should have their own opinions," she surmised.

"Yes, but those opinions often clash. That is another root that leads to conflict. In the end, no one wins or loses because they're both dead," Naruto finished his conversation with a dark tone. "Thank you for having a conversation with me, Miss Lacus. Now that we've located the _Vesalius_, the Serpent Tail will bring you back to the _Vesalius_and we, the Serpent Tail, will go down to Earth where we will join the PMC Trust."

"So you're also fighting for your own survival and for no reason other than to get into the heat of the conflict," Lacus replied back. Sakura entered the room a minute later with Kira, Elijah and Fon following her. "You know, you should have your own happiness, Mr. Uzumaki. You can make everyone happy, everywhere in the world. But you need to make yourself happy once in a while."

"Well, we should start escorting you towards the hangar. I'll go and talk to the captain," Naruto offered. He and Fon arrived at the corridor where Murrue and Mu were having a conversation. "Excuse me, captain."

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Murrue asked.

"The Serpent Tail needs to escort Miss Lacus back to the _Vesalius_. We have our mobile suits aboard this ship, so we're gonna need to bring her back.(have the ability to bring her back,)" Elijah replied back. Natarle heard the conversation from her room and stepped out.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Natarle replied back, but Elijah gave her the mission ad that Murakumo sent him.

"We were supposed to guard Miss Lacus until she could be brought back to the ZAFT forces. We are obligated to complete our mission, so unless you wish to block our entry into the hangar, the Earth Forces Moon Command will have to pay us up double the salary of what Siegel Clyne has paid us. Plus, we would persuade Moon Headquarters to give us more money so we could pay the personnel of Artemis for the damage all of us had made as compensation," he replied in a business like tone.

Murrue nodded. "We do have to grant your permission. Even though you're not military, we can't obstruct your missions unless the Earth Alliance and ZAFT would want to seek the services of the Junk Guild."

"Oh boy, do not mention that in front of Gai Murakumo," Sakura reminded the warship captain. Natarle led the Serpent Tail crew and Lacus into the hangar as she climbed into Naruto's Ahead Smultron. "Thanks for the accommodations. We would pay you, but we would have to clear that up with Mr. Murakumo."

"OK. Murdoch, open up the hangar doors," Natarle ordered.

Murdoch heard the order. "For what?" He noticed the Serpent Tail suits that were coming out. "Oh, of course."

"Naruto Uzumaki, Ahead. Taking off!"

The Ahead led the rest of the mobile suit force out of the Archangel's catapult and moved in the direction of the fleeing ZAFT ships. As Naruto spotted the _Vesalius_, he opened up a channel and spoke.

"This is Serpent Tail member Naruto Uzumaki. We have Lacus Clyne in our custody, and will bring her over to your command. However, we will do this on one condition: that you release Tsuchigumo Hotaru out and turn her over to us."

Inside the _Vesalius_, Le Creuset was surprised at the sudden appearance of the Serpent Tail suits. "All right, we'll grant your request."

The _Vesalius'__s_doors opened up as the Aegis launched out with the Tieren trailing behind the red mobile suit. Athrun opened up his cockpit to see if Lacus was indeed inside the Ahead. Sure enough, Naruto opened his cockpit doors and Lacus waved at him while wearing an old ESF space suit.

"Hello, Athrun."

Athrun smiled and frowned. "Thank you for guarding her. Still, I'm surprised Kira isn't here. He should have joined ZAFT though."

"I know. He would have if he didn't move to Heliopolis. Then again, you can't turn the clock backwards. It's a pleasure to have met you, Athrun Zala. I can see that you will have a strong spirited wife as your mate, but you two will have to show me that your beliefs are worth fighting for. Oh, and just for your information: I told your father that I was also attacked by those metallic shape shifting freaks," Naruto replied back. Athrun was surprised, but he smiled as Hotaru's Tieren rejoined the Serpent Tail group. "I'm afraid this means that you and Kira may have to fight each other."

"I'm afraid you're right. If only I could see him one last time, to convince him to join me. There's no reason why he shouldn't remain in the Earth Forces," Athrun insisted. "But that won't happen at all, will it?"

"Time can only tell, Athrun. That will be when Kira has to come to the crossroads of destiny. He must decide to fight for his friends or his own people. He has good friends, all of them are Naturals. Our friend Fon Spaak, he's not just an average Natural, but he's not a coordinator."

"Athrun, time to get back inside!" Axis's voice called out from the GINN. He gasped at the sight of the Ahead and trembled. "An Ahead? Surely, you're not an A-LAWS soldier, are you?"

"Nope, just a mercenary," Naruto smiled and waved goodbye to the ZAFT soldiers goodbye. "I do hope that we won't have to fight each other too soon."

* * *

OK, this is the last arc for the NarutoxLacus interaction. I may have done a bit of a crappy job with the interactions, from the first meeting to the test of resolve to see if Lacus can be gutsy enough to pick up a weapon and fight for what she believes in. The real arrow-piercing love story will begin in the late stages of SEED, so don't hold your breath. Tell me what do you think of the interaction.

Another thing too, next chapter will be the PMC Trust Arc. I've decided to skip the battle that will happen when Kira activates the SEED mode in order to focus more on developing Athrun's character, plus another OC that will show up. (Note: Genesis Paladin owns the OCs Axis and Alexandra Aker. I get to own the OC Dmitri Smirnov, a descendant of Sergei Smirnov.)


	11. The Sand Stained in Blood

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Eleven: The Sand Stained in Blood**_

A few days after the Serpent Tail had sent Lacus Clyne back to the ZAFT forces, they went to Earth in order to join forces with the PMC Trust. Despite the two millennia hiatus, the PMC Trust had redirected their efforts in maintaining their own mobile suits, GN and non GN alike. It was only because of the Bloody Valentine War that they were thrust into action once again, only this time at the hands of both the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations. Still, most of the PMC personnel were from the former Human Reform League that had been disbanded when the Earth Alliance was formed. Despite their outlawed existence, the HRL personnel inside the PMC hoped that one day they will restore their country to what it once was, a bastion of anti-American sentiment.

It was at the PMC Trust in Moralia that Naruto and the Serpent Tail members had come into contact with regular Eurasian Federation soldiers who also hailed from the HRL, this time in Asia. Sakura and Hotaru were amazed at the discipline the PMC soldiers had displayed and were also amazed at the scenes of a typical European festival. Murakumo and Elijah Kiel were skeptical about joining the PMCs, but since mercenaries rarely get jobs in peace time, they had to join forces to share the profits they've(d) made. When the Bloody Valentine War broke out, these mercenaries were used by the Earth Alliance to fight ZAFT on the European theater with minimal success. Even with the excavation of old Hellions and Fantongs, they were no match for ZAFT's GINNs and the deadlier BuCUEs.

"So this is Earth. So far, I kinda like this place," Naruto mused.

Sakura frowned. "Don't get too used to it, Naruto. We're not here for sightseeing, you know."

"To tell you the truth, Ms. Haruno, we are here to enlist and possibly make more profits when we're full-fledged PMC members. Plus, we could find that boy you've been chasing after and kill him," Murakumo offered. "Looks like we're all here to enlist then."

"That's about it." Elijah nodded. They came across an officer inside the building, started to fill out their applications and handed them to him. "Hello, we're here to enlist in the PMC Trust. We were recommended by Admiral Gerard Garcia of the Eurasian Federation."

The PMC officer looked up to them and grinned. "Admiral Garcia told us that you were coming. It's nice to see you all. I am wondering why an incompetent admiral would recommend a freelance mercenary group to join us."

"It figures that Garcia has a lot of political connections within the Eurasian government. A pity that he was raised in the AEU territory of Spain," Murakumo replied back darkly. "Still, it was nice of him to have recommended for us to join up."

"Yes, it was indeed nice for him to suggest to the PMCs that you join us. Tell me, where is the pilot of the excavated Ahead?" a new guest spoke up. Naruto raised his hand as the newcomer eyed him suspiciously. "Where did you get that suit?"

"I came across the Ahead while I was in Heliopolis at the time when ZAFT attacked. I already know that machine used to belong to the A-LAWS," Naruto suggested, demonstrating his decent knowledge of the Earth's history. "Just who the hell are you?"

"I'd talk a bit more decent if I were you, young man," the military receptionist cautioned him. "He's Mikhail Andreyevich Smirnov-Suvorov. Also known as Mikhail Suvorov, and he's descended from the Wild Bear of Russia himself."

Naruto stuttered and looked down. "I'm sorry for my manners."

"That's fine. I was like that too when I was your age, young man," Suvorov told him. "To think that you've become the Tieren-type fan of Graham Aker."

"Aker? We've seen the Aker twins fight in battle." Elijah remembered the fierce battle going on between Axis and Alex Aker. "It looked like they had a blood feud or something."

Suvorov nodded. "Yeah, they seem to hate each other that much."

"So what are we waiting for? They'd better enlist," the receptionist told the Russian. "This way."

* * *

**PMC TRUST TRAINING GROUND**

* * *

A lot of young, aspiring future PMC personnel were jogging around the training field as their instructors were monitoring their progress. Unlike the regular training required by the Earth Forces for their new recruits, the training required by the PMCs was a lot harder, as Naruto and the Serpent Tail were about to find out to their discomfort. After the run, they had to crawl through the mud and barbed wire without having to get hurt by the metallic thorns.

"Faster!"

Once the rest of the mud crawling training was done, the new recruits were gathered around the airfield. An officer was giving them a briefing as he chastised one recruit who had his cap on improperly.

"For the next three months, I will tear you bastards up into small pieces. From there, I will reconstruct you all into fighting machines without any hint of hesitation at all. Yes, it will be done twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Now then, follow me to your barracks." The officer pointed in the direction of the barracks. "Right turn! Quick march!"

The new recruits began to march as Sakura looked around the airfield. She couldn't help but wonder if they would have ended up in the same situation as the Root ANBU back home, with the harsh training and the possible elimination of their own emotions. Murakumo and Elijah marched along with the other recruits as they followed the officer right into the barracks. Due to military regulations in the PMC base, Sakura and Hotaru had to go to an all-female barracks as to avoid being caught for fraternization. Once the new recruits arrived in the barracks, they changed to their newly issued PMC combat uniforms as the same officer who briefed them arrived.

"Since you all have no ranks as of now, I'll decide if you need to be sent into the officers' school or not," he spoke first. He went up to the recruit who had a smart alecky attitude and punched him in the guts. "First rule: the soldier is always ready for an unexpected attack."

"Ugh," the other recruit fell down as soon as the officer punched him in the gut.

"Rule number two: since you're all going to be trained as mercenaries, you're not even people at all. You're just nothing, and you're all crap. I will make fine mercenaries out of you sorry lugs with these hands." The officer clenched his fist. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Now, I want you all to assemble outside." The recruits started to file outside the barracks with their heavy backpacks filled with rocks already. A mountain could be seen from where the nearest parade ground is located. "Good. Now then, your mission is to take out the enemy living in the other side of the mountains. You have only two hours to get to that mountain, despite the fact that you would normally take around two and a half or even three hours to get there."

Murakumo led his own section through the fields towards the mountain with their heavy backpacks on their backs. As soon as they reached the mountain, they began to climb up with their own bare hands. Unfortunately, Naruto had lost his grip on the rock as he began to fall backwards from the mountain. Elijah and Murakumo tried to hold him back, but they too, began to slip back. The officer who saw what was happening wasn't impressed.

"Mission failed. Do you know that an enemy could take out a couple of soldiers from that height? C'mon, helmets back on, you stiffs! Run again!" the officer shouted. Naruto, Murakumo and Elijah started to climb the mountain again as they continued to experience the same slip up they'd faced before. "Move your asses, you deadweights!"

"I never thought this training would resemble the old Russian Army training," Elijah grunted.

Murakumo nodded. "If they intend to make super soldiers out of us in a short amount of time, they sure weren't bluffing."

"What's the pride of a PMC mercenary?" the officer bellowed. The trainees replied in their loud voices.

"Strength, honor and glory!"

"What's the example of a PMC mercenary?"

"Example to, and admiration, to the losers back on civvy street!"

"And what are you?"

"Disgrace to all the training regiments in the PMC Trust!"

Once the mountain climbing exercise was done, the officer who supervised it had gone back up andgave out another order. This time, the recruits had to fall in ranks as quickly as possible.

"You've only got five minutes!" the officer shouted. He pointed at the gigantic obstacle course for the recruits to see. "You see that? You'll all be going through that as quickly as possible. I know too well that you all won't get it right on your first try, so we'll do this again around three to nine times just to ge you in shape."

"Sir, there's a message for you," another officer told him as soon as he arrived with his own vehicle. The officer who supervised the training read the letter and sighed.

"All right then. I want you to start right now. Go!" he snapped as the recruits had scaled the walls two at a time. When one of the recruits had stumbled, he snapped again. "Why the hell are you moving like a cripple? Get your ass right back up!"

"Ahh!" one recruit fell through a pole designed for the balancing exercise.

"Get your comrades right back up! Your dear mummy must have read the letter, stating that you're already dead. Your girlfriend must be crying in your grave right now. Get right back up!" he yelled again. As soon as the last recruit had finished the exercise, he directed them back to the next course, which was an open field. "We're all gonna run through here. This will be a five kilometer run, so you better get your asses ready."

Once again, Murakumo and the Serpent Tail male members had started their own run with the rest of the company. They wadded through thick grass and light mud with their weapons up above their heads. As soon as the entire platoon had finally reached the end of the thick grass, they approached the foot of the hills and started to run through it(up them). They took a break once they reached the top of the hills.

"So what do you think of this training so far?" Elijah asked Naruto.

"Couldn't be worse," he answered back. "I've endured something worse than this."

"I agree. I was conditioned like that too," Murakumo replied back. "Still, I wonder what roles are we(we are) going to have once we're done with the training."

"I heard that we might be sent to North Africa, to assist in the resistance movement against ZAFT. They sure need help after the Eurasian defeat at the hands of the Desert Tiger. I read about it in the news," Elijah told them. "Even with the unearthed Anfs, the new weapons ZAFT has made a short work of them."

"Get up!" the officer shouted to them. A minute later, Suvorov arrived at the hills as the officer beckoned for him to come closer. "Some of you may know who he is. He's Captain Mikhail Andreyevich Smirnov-Suvorov. Yes, Captain Suvorov will be your other training officer for the duration of this training session until your first real mission. Since you've all enlisted into becoming PMC Trust soldiers and pilots too, we will have to teach you how to pilot a mobile suit. Some of you may have known how to do it already, but some of you don't. We of the PMC Trust have our Enacts and Flags as well as Tierens. I heard that there was one of you who possessed a GN based mobile suit, the Ahead. Who was it?"

"It's me, sir." Naruto raised his hand up. Suvorov moved closer and spoke back.

"Then I suggest that you keep that suit with you at all times, but you will be training with us in a normal Enact. We do have a few Braves from the ELS conflict, but there are so few that I doubt we'll be able to mass produce them," Suvorov replied back. "I myself would be assigned a prototype unit, but I may also end up being assigned to a Brave."

"Where are we going to be deployed after the training?" Naruto asked again. This time, no one answered back.

After two weeks of basic training at the obstacle course on the mountains within Moralia, the new recruits were standing in an airfield where ten Enacts were parked. A few more Enacts and Flags were being rolled out for training purposes too, as well as some Tierens recovered from their excavation grounds. Some experienced pilots have landed their own Hellions into the tarmac and climbed out of the cockpit as soon as the Hellions had stopped.

"Whoa...I didn't know they were still around, even if they were supposed to be extinct." Murakumo observed the Hellions a bit closer.

"Are we gonna be trained in those things?" Elijah wondered. Everyone nodded in agreement. "That's good news."

* * *

**WITH ALEX AKER AND HER TEAM**

* * *

A ZAFT ship captain was briefing the Von Trapp's crew on an upcoming mission they would undergo in a few days' time. Alex and her team were interested to hear that they were about to go up against what should have been an extinct group called the PMC Trust.

"Apparently, they are hired by the Desert Dawn resistance group in North Africa. Your job is to prevent the mercenaries from joining up with the resistance fighters. Along the way, you should be able to capture the pseudo-solar furnaced unit the PMC has," the captain replied back. "You'll have your CGUE upgraded to cope with the gravity, but other than that, you will be using Guuls."

Alex nodded. "Acknowledged."

"Good. You will go to Earth in around 1800 hours and report to the ZAFT command in Gibraltar. Meanwhile, the Gamow is taking care of the legged ship while the Eighth Fleet of the Earth Forces is still far away," the captain replied back as the link was cut off.

The Von Trapp loaded some of its mobile suits into an orbital pod. They would send this pod down into Gibraltar so that the female Aker team would(could) join up with some ZAFT outfits in North Africa, and join the inevitable war in the former Republic of Krugis. The pod descended down through the atmosphere, opening its contents once it nearly reached the ground as Alex led her team down onto the runway of the Rock.

"We're here. This is Alexandra Aker of the Aker team. We have reached the Rock, and we're waiting for further orders," Alex told the commanders stationed inside Gibraltar.

"Hello, Commander Aker. This is Commander Letcher of the Gibraltar base. We've been expecting you for some time now," the commander replied back. "Please take your machines down into Hangar Thirteen. There will be a military escort waiting for you."

"Thank you."

Alex and her team climbed into a ZAFT jeep once it arrived at the hangar. The driver started to drive away from the hangar, towards the headquarters where ZAFT sentries acting as honor guards commenced their drills upon Alex's arrival. She saluted to the honor guards as her squad followed her inside. Commander Letcher, the commander of the Gibraltar garrison, shook her hand.

"Welcome to Gibraltar. Please follow me." Letcher beckoned for the Aker team to follow him. They entered the briefing room as the screen lighted(lit) up and an image of a brown haired man in a custom colored ZAFT uniform. "This is Commander Andrew Waltfeld from the ZAFT garrison base in Banadiya. He will brief you on the mission you will perform."

"Thank you." Waltfeld started the briefing as the Aker team sat down. He produced an image of the world map and pointed at Banadiya. "Here is our base." He traced his pointer towards where the Middle East is located. "This is the Alliance base in the Iranian Republic. Two thousand years ago, this place was the seat of an old monarchy called Azadistan. Lately, the Desert Dawn resistance group has managed to receive weapons from a supply depot just outside Tehran. The Desert Dawn also has a base right in the former Republic of Krugis, in the city of Sulamaniya. The objective of that mission is to destroy the base and to capture any excavated mobile suits found within that location. We may encounter Celestial Being along the way."

"It is typical for them to intervene, according to their policies," Alex reminded the famed Desert Tiger. "We should be able to capture their mobile suits too."

"That is what the Supreme Council would have wanted us to do, Commander Aker," Waltfeld replied back. He sipped his coffee and continued to speak. "Now then, your team will come under my control for the time being. Your brother will stay with the Le Creuset team."

"Roger that." Alex saluted as the comm went off.

* * *

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

**AFTER THE BASIC TRAINING**

* * *

Within three weeks, Naruto and his Serpent Tail comrades managed to get used to the daily harsh training the PMC instructors had demanded. Occasionally, there would be an officer who would attack a new recruit randomly, forcing him to defend himself. The brutal hazing ritual was criticized by the other officers as barbaric since their aims were to create an army of professional mercenaries, not brutalized battalion of conscripts. Eventually, the hazing was toned down when Suvorov explicitly warned the trainers that mercenaries are trained better if they weren't battered. Every trainer had taken the advice to heart and even stopped hazing the recruits altogether, although it wouldn't be long before they returned to that habit.

At the same time, a group of engineers were examining the Ahead Naruto brought with him to Moralia. They were interested in the mobile suit's frame and its GN Tau Drive. They planned on making a unit similar to the Ahead except it would be slightly slimmer and a bit more nimble. No one in the PMC Trust and the Moralian Armed Forces wanted an infamous old A-LAWS machine as a weapon in their mobile suit inventory. Despite the repercussions that would happen, the engineers decided to start their project by assembling some mobile suit parts from the Ahead and some data from the Astray Project which Heliopolis devised for the five original pseudo-Gundams in Celestial Being's point of view.

"Slower. Slower. That's it, don't hesitate now," an air traffic control personnel instructed Naruto as he flew down from the air on a Hellion. "Great. You've done a great job with the take off and the landing, but you were a bit shaky in the sky."

"I'm just learning the ropes," Naruto insisted.

"Yes, but you only have two more months until you're deployed into the front lines. Unlike regular soldiers, mercenaries are deployed as soon as they are finished with their training," the air traffic control personnel placed the headphones down and went over for a cup of coffee.

Murakumo and Elijah rejoined him in the lounge as Sakura and Hotaru brought them their own rations. "Hey, Sakura. How's training with the female recruits?"

"Not that bad, except that Hotaru's extremely shaky when she tries to take off from the runway with the Hellion," Sakura answered back. She turned towards Naruto and spoke back to Elijah. "How is he doing?"

"Just as shaky as you are, Sakura. Unlike you guys, Gai and I are more experienced in mobile suit piloting," Elijah said. He sipped his drink and looked over Hotaru's shoulder. "You know, you guys should get used to this kind of environment. It will get hotter in North Africa."

"Yeah, because that is where we might be deployed," Murakumo sighed. "Hotaru, you should learn how to become a scout. With your skills, you could easily do recon missions."

"Are you already deciding on how we should perform as units? We don't even know if we're going to split into separate groups." Naruto frowned. "Still, I can see Hotaru as a determined woman."

"Sakura on the other hand, I don't know what she is capable of in the battlefield. She does make a good nurse though," Elijah replied back.

Sakura nodded. "I am trained as a medic, so I will mostly be piloting a custom suit that would oversee the repairs of mobile suits and tending to the injured pilots and personnel."

"She's right. I've seen her heal people with her abilities." Hotaru remembered the time when Sakura had healed some of Naruto's injuries during the time when they were supposed to guard her. "She's also talented with medicines too, traditional and contemporary."

"Looks like we've got a perfect medic aboard the Laurasia ship we control. We do have to contact Reed Wheeler from time to time and see what kind of jobs did that rapper took," Murakumo told them.

"Knowing Kirabi, he would have taken them all and complete them with the clients annoyed by his constant rapping," Naruto answered back, assuming the worst scenario. "I'm sure that would lower our value as a mercenary group."

"With this kind of additional training, we may be able to increase our value as a mercenary group," Elijah spoke.

After lunch, the new recruits were back on the runway as they were training to become pilots with the Hellions. Elijah and Murakumo managed to transform their Hellions into mobile suit mode, but Naruto was having a lot of trouble just performing that kind of trick. He kept on falling down as soon as he slowed down to transform, causing everyone to clear out of the way so that no one would get hurt.

"Naruto, isn't it?" Suvorov asked him from the air traffic control tower. "The trick is that you don't slow down when you transform your machine. You increase your speed, and then transform."

"Wouldn't it be more dangerous?" Naruto replied back worryingly.

"Well, which would you prefer? To crash into another mobile suit in the air or to fall down and accidentally squishing the other recruits? Just do what I say and you'll be fine." Suvorov placed down the headphones and watched as Naruto's Hellion gains speed at first, but another Hellion moved closer. The Russian picked up the headphone and issued instructions. "Don't increase speed while another mobile suit is in the way. Transform only when you have no obstacles in the way."

"Roger that." Naruto began to increase his speed on the Hellion once again, but he swerved away from the other Hellion so he could transform into mobile suit mode. Finally, he managed to pull off such a trick as he transformed the machine back to its mobile armor mode and landed into the runway. "How was it?"

"You were shaky on your first successful attempt. Perhaps you will be practicing that a lot more often." Suvorov took off the headphones and placed it on the table. He sighed in relief as another personnel came up to the tower. "Good luck."

* * *

**NORTH AFRICA**

**TWO MONTHS LATER**

* * *

Two months after the new recruits had completed their basic training at Moralia, they were deployed to North Africa in order to help out their latest clients, a resistance group called the Desert Dawn. The Serpent Tail group was also among the deployed mercenaries stationed in North Africa as they made their way into the resistance cell with their mobile suits, which consisted mostly of Enacts, except for Naruto since he was piloting an Ahead. The Desert Dawn resistance fighters mostly used RPGs and missile trucks, although they had a few Hellions and some Anfs to cover them. Three excavated Tierens were spotted in the desert dunes, guarding the resistance cell.

"Here it is, North Africa. I wonder where are we are supposed to go after." Elijah looked around the cells.

Murakumo nodded. "We'll most likely end up in the Middle East. We only have to defend the resistance base and to secure the supply routes before moving towards the Suez Canal."

Naruto adjusted his new sunglasses while inside the Ahead. "The sun's giving me a hard time. It's no wonder why I had to buy these with the money I'd earned from the Serpent Tail missions."

"You might as well get used to it. We're talking about dense heat and bright sunlight in this part of the world," Murakumo told him. He readied his custom Blue Frame's beam rifle just in case. "I'm also surprised that they let us keep our mobile suits."

"Actually, I was the one who insisted that we keep our old machines. Even if we switched to Enacts, I would have preferred to use a machine that actually has a fighting chance against ZAFT mobile suits. Granted, we could be talented in the battlefield, but it's the right weapons that give us the chance to survive."

"There they are! The Desert Dawn fighters!" someone called out. "Move closer towards them!"

All of the PMC machines approached the resistance cells with caution. Their mobile suits simply walked into the cells as to avoid damaging it, and possibly attracting the attention of unwanted guests (mainly, ZAFT). Some guerrillas were busy unloading supplies from the trucks as the PMC mercenaries came inside to help them unload. Murakumo and Naruto directed the entry of a couple of supply trucks into the resistance cells.

"That should be it for now." Murakumo turned around to see a few more excavated Tierens marching towards the other resistance base. "Naruto, we're coming down now."

"Roger that."

The Serpent Tail members climbed down from the cockpit as the resistance fighters met up with them. One of the guerrilla leaders was examining the Ahead that Naruto brought with him and grew worried about how they might be able to maintain it, especially since none of the pilots from the PMC Trust has ever repaired a GN based mobile suit, let alone a machine so old. One of the guerrilla members went towards the other members and showed them around.

"I'm glad you guys could make it. ZAFT has been getting busier here lately," the blonde haired woman explained. She continued to speak. "You see, ZAFT is keen on capturing the Suez Canal and the riches of the Middle East where some new resources are, particularly in the Kurdish and Iranian region."

"I see. Have we met before?" Naruto asked the blonde. She turned to face him and looked at him curiously. "I was in Heliopolis."

"You were? So what happened to the new white battleship and the G-weapons?" she asked back.

Sakura answered instead. "Four of them were captured by ZAFT, and one of them is still inside the Archangel. There is another person from Celestial Being who's been helping Kira out with the ship's defense."

"OK. But why are you guys here though? PMC Trust doesn't normally deploy newly trained mercenaries to the front lines. We were expecting a group of more experienced fighters," she told them. "To deploy new rookies, that would be a terrible waste of resources."

"Well, they did want us to gain some experience first." Elijah looked around the cell as various resistance members planned out their attacks on the map. "What about you?"

"I'm just here to help out. My friend Kisaka is from Banadiya, so he's here on a personal business. By the way, I'm Cagalli Yula," she introduced herself. With the exception of the new members of Serpent Tail, Murakumo and Elijah knew her real identity. It's just that they're not supposed to tesay anything in public. "You guys have your own mobile suits too? That will be helpful in the long run."

Cagalli led the Serpent Tail members within the PMC Trust regiment through the resistance base and into the town of Tassil. The locals waved at the resistance fighters and gawked at the Serpent Tail crew, which surprised Naruto a bit, but not that much since he was used to getting accustomed to being famous. This time though, him and the other mercenaries who were deployed in North Africa would work to resist ZAFT's rule there, and to link up with the other Desert Dawn groups around the Middle East. They were also supposed to meet up with a very well known army called the Krugis People's Separatist Army, or KPSA for short.

"Their lives have changed since ZAFT invaded this place. Even though all of the African Community is ruled by Andrew Waltfeld, the Desert Tiger, ZAFT has committed atrocities here. Although, I'll admit his methods are a bit unorthodox." Cagalli looked at the nearest mud house. "He gives a warning to the inhabitants in a town, telling them to get out of their homes or they will get hurt, and then he burns it down."

"Wouldn't that make the Desert Dawn groups want to retaliate a bit more, despite his attempts to show some mercy? When I was in Heliopolis, Le Creuset showed no mercy when he used D-Package weaponry in order to destroy the entire colony," Naruto told her. He could still remember the first time he faced off against ZAFT while aboard the Ahead. "And then there was that pursuit."

"So why have you all joined the PMC Trust? Your group is famous as it is," Cagalli asked back.

Murakumo yawned and stretched. "Because the Eurasians have recommended us to join them in order to increase our value as a mercenary group. Despite the fact that we fight for profit, if we can't fight, then we can't even eat or survive at all."

"But there are things you guys can do to live without fighting." The blonde woman turned to Sakura and Hotaru. "Isn't there?"

"You kinda remind us of Siegel Clyne's daughter. She asked me if there was anything I could do besides fighting. I told her that if there was something precious that you wanted to protect, then you have to fight for it," Naruto said to Cagalli. "You're better than her, but that's because you've actually seen the world outside your home, or wherever it is."

Cagalli narrowed her eyes at his explanation. "Do you know where I really-"

"-live? Not really. Everyone here tells me that you're Cagalli Yula." Sakura turned around and narrowed her eyes as she spotted something in the distance. "What is that?"

"We'd better go back," Naruto told the rest of the Serpent Tail members. No sooner had they returned to their base when the main Desert Dawn resistance fighters and their PMC Trust allies had gone to the battlefield. "I'm going out in my Ahead."

"Good luck." Murakumo climbed inside the Blue Frame and launched out. He took aim at the nearest ZAFT ZuOOT and fired his beam rifle, hitting his target in the cockpit. Naruto flew slowly towards the other ZuOOTs and some GINN Ochers that joined in the fight and fired his beam rifle. "There's some Anfs charging in."

"They're nuts." Naruto grimaced and grabbed a beam saber as he sliced a GINN in half. He was about to finish off another GINN when he spotted a unit moving three times faster than a normal unit. "That unit...it's not a regular machine."

"What's that?" Sakura asked as she looked at the incoming CGUE piloted by Alex Aker. "Don't tell me that's-"

"-the CGUE that fought against its own comrade." Hotaru took aim with her sonic rifle and fired, but the CGUE dodged the shot. "You're right, Sakura. That is not a normal unit."

Alex grabbed her own rifle and fired a couple of shots into the Anfs who challenged her. The Anfs exploded after the CGUE stabbed it with its own sword, allowing the GINN High Maneuvers to join in the fight. Sakura fired the sonic rifle, hitting a GINN Ocher in the cockpit, but one of the High Maneuvers kicked her rifle aside. With the Enact's rifle discarded, Sakura grabbed a sonic saber and clashed blades with the High Maneuver. Murakumo and Elijah dealt with Alex while Naruto hacked away at the ZuOOTs.

"So I was right. The dinosaur aged mobile suit is here." Alex took aim with her bazooka and fired a shot towards the Ahead. Naruto detected the shot and dodged it, but not before the CGUE shoved the Ahead aside. "You're even better than Axis, yet you're just new inside that cockpit. I'm gonna do you a favor by taking that machine for myself!"

"Not a chance," Naruto grunted and fired his beam rifle back at her, but Alex kicked the rifle out of his hand. Luckily, Murakumo saw what was happening and fired a salvo from the CIWS machine guns. "Thanks, Gai."

"Naruto, you'd better get out of there. We're dealing with the same unit from space," Murakumo warned his fellow crew member. He turned to Elijah as he finished stabbing a GINN in the cockpit. "Elijah, help me distract the CGUE."

"Roger that."

The Ahead picked up its own rifle and gave Sakura the Enact's discarded rifle. They resumed their fight against the incoming ZuOOTs and GINN Ochers as the rest of the guerrilla fighters launched their RPGs into the newly arrived BuCUEs. Naruto could see that something is wrong with the newcomers, so he sped away from the slower ZAFT mobile suits and fired his beam rifle towards the BuCUEs. Three BuCUEs fired a shot from their cannon, forcing the Ahead to put up its shield as Naruto fired back with the Ahead's beam machine gun. Two BuCUEs with a missile pod launched their payload into the Ahead, and once again Naruto used the beam machine guns to repel them.

Hotaru wasn't faring well with her Enact under attack by the GINN Ochers as her rifle was destroyed by the Ocher's machine guns. She grabbed a sonic saber and amputated the Ocher in the shoulder before transforming into mobile armor mode to dodge the shots, but the ZuOOTs continued to pound their anti-aircraft guns into the airborne Enact. To Hotaru's relief, Murakumo fired his beam rifle into the offending ZuOOT, hitting the cockpit as it exploded once again. Elijah was struggling to shoot the High Maneuvers down, even with Naruto covering him.

"You'll have to do better than that," Alex said as she took aim with her rifle. "Be gone!"

"Not if I can still fight." Elijah returned fire with his own rifle, but one of the shots coming from the CGUE had struck his GINN in the shoulder. Another shot had amputated the GINN at the legs as he struggled to get up. "Naruto, help me!"

"Roger that." The Ahead returned fire against Alex's CGUE and added its own burst from the beam machine guns. Alex placed her shield to block the Ahead's shots as she grabbed her sword and clashed with the Ahead's beam saber. Naruto grabbed another saber and placed pressure on the sword, breaking it in half.

"Not bad. You seem to have improved." Akex turned towards the BuCUEs and gave them orders. "Shoot that machine down! Be careful, since that thing could jam our communications equipment."

Unfortunately, no one could listen to what she said due to the particle's interference with the radio signal. Naruto took this chance to retrieve his downed comrades and retreated back into the base, which was heavily guarded by the remaining Enacts and Anfs. The BuCUEs made quick work of the older mobile suits as they were easily destroyed. Alex and her team were about to launch their final attack on the base itself when a warning shot was fired from the Lesseps, signaling a retreat flare.

"You guys got lucky, but we're not gonna be merciful the next time around," Alex told the resistance fighters as she and her team left the battlefield.

* * *

To be continued...


	12. Falling Stars

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam SEED or Gundam 00.

Note: The new Violet Frame featured in this series will be piloted by Sasuke. It's similar to 1 Gundam and the Red Frame. By the way, here is what Dimensional Innovation's factions are for this fic:

- The Atlantic Federation consists of all lands in North America plus Great Britain, Greenland and Iceland. Though it's the main leader in the OMNI alliance, it had to share its influence with the Eurasian Federation and the Republic of East Asia due to their obligations as Earth Alliance members. Its government consists of the President and Vice President, though each member state within the Atlantic Federation has their own leaders, similar to the Union of Anno Domini. Its leader is Joseph Copeland, and the currency is the Atlantic Federation Amero. (the proposed currency of a North American economic bloc) Its capital is in Washington, DC.

- The Eurasian Federation consists of all former AEU nations plus all of Russia (AEU and HRL parts), Central Asia and even Israel. It was founded when the Reconstruction War broke out, though the Human Reform League was gravely weakened by the AEU's capture of Asiatic Russia, and the creation of East Asia and the Equatorial Union. However, there are still HRL diehards around Asiatic Russia, China and India who seeks to reunify either Asiatic Russia or all of Russia with the former HRL states. Its capitals are in Moscow and Berlin. Eurasia once controlled the Middle East, but had to grant independence after a costly war during the early Cosmic Era years. The currency is in Euros, but the_yevraz_is applied to non ex-AEU states.

- The Republic of East Asia consists of all traditional East Asian lands of China, Korea and Japan. With the exception of Japan, the first two nations mentioned were the core members of the HRL. Only after East Asia was founded did Japan finally accepted its fate, although there are mass emigrations from Japan due to Chinese influence there. Its capital is in Beijing, once the capital of the HRL. The curency is the yuan, though other nations have their own currency.

- The United States of South America consists of all South American nations with Caracas, Taribia as the capital. Due to the Taribian influence in the region, the Union split into two. This practice of power politics in South America goes back to the days of Hugo Chavez. USSA has a reputation as an anti-American bloc that welcomed the PLANTs as a trading partner. Of course, the Union orbital elevator was located in Taribia, providing some energy to all of South America and would cut off energy to their northern neighbor if given the chance. Their currency is the peso.

- The Equatorial Union consists of India, all of ASEAN states and some Pacific islands. Though this nation may be poor, they did possess the former HRL orbital elevator (Heaven's Pillar), providing solar energy to all nations within the said union. It's also the third component of the former HRL, with some of its former soldiers and diehards from India. However, the Equatorial Union faces a controversy when the Philippines is divided between pro-Union/pro-Atlantic Federation and pro-HRL/pro-Eurasia factions. Eurasia still has a military base in Equatorial Union territory. They have no current currency as of this moment, though they still use the former ESF Pounds.

- The African Community consists of all African states occupied by ZAFT at the beginning of the Bloody Valentine War. Unlike the other two orbital elevators, the former AEU orbital elevator is currently under ZAFT control. It is also in this very same place that Celestial Being first made their debut in AD 2307, and later on in 2312 AD it was at the scene of the ESF Coup D'Etat. That incident resulted in granting the military under the control of the A-LAWS. Though no information is provided, it is said that the PLANT currency dominates this economy. The Desert Dawn operates in this territory too.

- The Middle Eastern Federation consists of all Middle Eastern states, including the former Kingdom of Azadistan, the former Kingdom of Suille and the short lived Republic of Krugis. This country was the latest country to adopt solar energy after their oil supplies weren't sold on the global market due to its shortage. The capital is in Tehran, and it's ruled by a monarch descended from Marina Ismail. No known currency is adopted, but like the Equatorial Union, they use the former ESF Pounds.

- The South African Union consists of all African nations that aren't occupied by ZAFT. It's where the Victoria mass driver is located, only a few miles away from the AEU orbital elevator. It's a puppet state of the Atlantic Federation, but it's also the most rabidly anti-ESF nation in the world. Their currency is the SAU Pound sterling.

- The Oceania Union consists of all Pacific islands that aren't under Equatorial Union control, plus Australia and New Zealand. Unlike the rest of the Pacific islands that were part of the HRL at the time, Australia and New Zealand were part of the Union. Unfortunately, they allied with the PLANTs at the beginning of the Bloody Valentine War. The notable information about Oceania is that the ZAFT base of Carpentaria was once the ESF's naval base under the joint control of the Union and the HRL. However, irredentists within the HRL called for the annexation of the Oceania Union into the HRL itself, causing tensions.

- The Kingdom of Scandinavia consists of all Nordic nations. They too, were once part of the AEU but split away from Eurasia due to Russia's influence in the rest of the continent. Anxious to avoid the repeat of WWII, Scandinavia controls Finland too, serving as a buffer state between Sweden and Russia. its currency is the krone, and it's ruled by a monarchy. The most notable fact is that Siegel Clyne, Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council, is of Scandinavian descent, and so is Lacus Clyne.

- Lastly, the Orb Union is a newly founded nation that is located in the Pacific. Its population mainly consists of Japanese who fled East Asia after China's takeover of that nation. The currency is the Orb dinar, and it's ruled by Uzumi Nara Athha. The Orb Union is also notable by the fact that it has the capability to acquire solar energy from the former HRL's Orbital elevator in addition to its geothermal energy supplies. Unfortunately, the Orb Union is split between the pro-Atlantic Federation/pro-Union Seiran Family, the neutral Athha family, the hegemonist Sahaku family, and the pro-HRL/pro-Eurasian Yusupov family. The Yusupov family emigrated to the Orb Union from Eurasia after the AEU recaptured all of HRL occupied Asiatic Russia. They have connections to Dmitri Smirnov, who's distantly related to the Smirnov family on the father's side, and the Yusupov family on the mother's side. He is currently a member of the PMC Trust.

* * *

_**Turn Twelve: Falling Stars**_

**ORB UNION MORGENROETTE INC. HANGAR**

Uchiha Sasuke stood in front of what appeared to be a mass produced version of the mobile suit he wanted to pilot. Since he had landed on Earth, the last Uchiha had struggled to survive by himself, now that all three of his squad mates are dead or missing. Luckily, Morgenroette took pity on him and offered to teach him how to pilot a mobile suit. Sasuke accepted the offer, thinking it was better than doing nothing on this isolated island. His role, as it turned out, was to become a test pilot for the new M1 Astray series with the Violet Frame as its inspiration. (The other four Astray Frames had already been claimed. The Red Frame had been taken by Lowe Guele of the Junk Guild, the Blue Frame currently belonged to Gai Murakumo of the Serpent Tail, the Gold Frame was secured by Rondo Ghina Sahaku, and the Green Frame ended up in the Earth Alliance's hands, presumably given to any willing pilot.)

Sasuke never found out about what happened to Karin. Actually, he hardly cared to know what happened to her. He would have killed her if it wasn't for Sakura's intervention which also dragged Naruto into the conflict. However, since Naraku's emergence from obscurity into prominence, Naruto and Sasuke had to form a truce so they could kill him together. It was no secret that Naraku hated them both since he saw the two lost boys as remnants of two powerful clans who had denied the Shimura clan of the right to rule Konoha.

"Sasuke, the machine is ready to undergo another test drive." One of the Morgenroette employees walked towards him. Sasuke turned around and looked at him. "Uhh...if you're ready."

Sasuke walked alongside the employee and arrived at the hangar where the Violet Frame was located. "Are you sure that's the machine I'm supposed to pilot?"

"Well, since you're the only test pilot available, then yes," the employee told him. A brown haired woman approached them with a clipboard. "Ms. Simmons."

Erica Simmons gazed at the Uchiha heir and smiled. "All right, we're going to test out the new Aile Pack on the Violet Frame."

"I'm ready," Sasuke told the engineers. Erica signaled them to clear out of the hangar as he fiddled around with the controls. "What's my first task?"

"How about testing out the Aile pack while you're airborne? Go outside first." The hangar doors opened up so that the Violet Frame could get out. Sasuke stepped on the pedals of the mobile suit as he started to get airborne, but the Aile pack was having some problems.

"Crap, I'm going down!" Sasuke yelled. He struggled to get the mobile suit back up again, all he managed was to soften the blow of his landing. "There appears to be a problem with the engine in the back."

"It's just as I predicted. The Aile pack for this unit's still defective. If we're to mass produce it for our M1 Astrays, then we have to correct the error. Otherwise, we can't roll out our own mobile suits to defend ourselves from foreign invaders," Erica told the engineers who were watching the demonstration. "All right, get back inside and we'll start analyzing the Aile pack for the errors."

Sasuke left the Morgenroette building as soon as he changed his clothes back to his civilian gear. He walked around the city as people engaged in their daily lives without any interruptions from the outside world. He felt a bit calm and peaceful only because his adopted home hadn't been attacked yet due to its neutrality, but sooner or later Orb would be engulfed in flames. He was lost in his thoughts when a boy suddenly ran into him accidentally.

"Ow! Watch it!"

"You should have watched where you were going, kid," Sasuke told the young boy. He helped him get back on his feet and looked at his sister. "Where are you two going?"

"To the store. I'm gonna get a new game today, and Mayu's getting a new cellphone," the young boy told him. He offered his hand for Sasuke to shake as he introduced himself. "I'm Shinn, and Mayu is my sister."

"I'm Sasuke." Sasuke shook hands with Shinn as his parents called them to come back. The Uchiha heir couldn't help but feel envious that the young boy had a family who was still alive, compared to his own dead family who met their end at the hands of Itachi. "I wonder if that boy is going to end up like me, an orphan because of war."

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

The Archangel was still reeling from the attacks led by ZAFT that tragically ended the life of George Allster, which had given Flay her first taste of what war could truly be like. After her outburst against Kira and Fon, she had isolated herself in the hospital room so that she could get over her father's death. Fon and Kira studied the maps in another room since Kira couldn't help but figure out what the difference was.

"So what's the geopolitical make up in this world? I've missed out on a ton of things lately." Fon looked at two maps he was holding. One of them was the world map from AD 2307 and the other map was the current map. "Kira?"

"Well, the map you have is very old," Kira replied back. He pointed at the dot where the Orb Union is located. "This is Orb. Your AD 2307 map doesn't have that dot over there because Orb was founded around AD 4400, probably at the same time the Reconstruction War broke out."

Mu entered the room along with Miriallia and Sai, eager to find out what the two pilots were up to. "So, what do you guys have there?"

"Just a map." Fon showed Mu the AD 2307 version of the world map. "It's old."

"I wonder what the Serpent Tail is up to. They haven't said anything to us since they brought that girl back to ZAFT," Sai spoke to Kira. Fon shrugged as he stood up and folded the maps. "Robert, are you done with the maps?"

"The maps? Oh, they're mine. I bought them at the Heliopolis bookstore just before the war broke out. At least I can have a piece of map wherever I go," Fon replied back as he and Kira went to the elevator. They arrived at the hangar where the Strike and the Astrea is being repaired. "Although I can't help but feel a bit frightened."

"About what?" Kira asked back.

"About the pilot who threatened you during that battle. I know the guy, he's definitely a nut job. You don't wanna mess around with him. Believe me, my good friend Hixar tried to fight him and he had his ass handed to him." Fon grimaced at the time when Beside Pain fought Hixar at the orbital elevator. "Kira, whatever you do, do not fight against the Diabound. That pilot may be harmless, but he has a split personality. He could even upload himself into another terminal and live to tell the tale."

Kira couldn't help but wonder what he's talking about. "Robert-"

"You may call me Fon when it's just you and me. Call me Robert when we're around our friends, although they pretty much know who I really am now." Fon grinned and went inside the Astrea's cockpit. "You'd better prepare that Gundam if you're going to fight."

Meanwhile, the Gamow was still sailing through space as the remaining Red Coats were planning their next move. Although the Gamow didn't participate in the battle that resulted in the destruction of the advanced fleet and the sudden change of heart towards Lacus Clyne, some of the crew members knew how it had ended. Either way, all of ZAFT now knew about the capabilities of Celestial Being's intervention. The only saving grace was that the Archangel's weapons system was disabled as punishment by Celestial Being for using Lacus as a hostage. Of course, no one had anticipated the return of the infamous Beside Pain, even though no one knew who he was.

"Sure, it's possible to catch up with the legged ship before they join the Eighth Fleet, but we only have ten minutes before they get there," Nicol told Yzak and Dearka. "From what Athrun has told me, the legged ship was crippled by Celestial Being's intervention because they tried to use Miss Lacus as a hostage."

"You mean a full ten minutes. Come to think about it, why didn't Athrun mention anything about (the) four masked mobile suits that Celestial Being has?" Dearka wondered.

"I would suggest that the cowards keep their mouth shut," Yzak retorted, which only irritated Nicol.

"I proved myself at Artemis, didn't I? I'm no coward," Nicol protested, but Yzak continued to speak.

"Are there only ten minutes, or full ten minutes? It's the way you look at it that decides the outcome. Still, we do have to be on guard in case those armed interventionists decide to cripple the Gamow's weapons systems. We don't want to be a sitting duck when the Eighth Fleet attacks us." Yzak turned towards Dearka. "After the Vesalius turns Ms. Lacus over to Commander Laconi, they'll join us on the battlefield."

"Don't forget the Von Trapp," Dearka reminded his teammates, but Yzak shook his head.

"The Aker team was deployed to Earth. They'll be fighting the Earth Alliance there, as well as the PMC Trust. I'm surprised that private military company still exists, even after two millenia," Yzak told them.

Inside the Vesalius, Athrun was about to go back to his room when a pink Haro bounced towards him. He wasn't surprised as to who it belonged to, having built the same Haro himself. Lacus walked towards him, retrieving the Haro safely from his hands.

"Lacus..."

"Haro's excited to see you again," Lacus told Athrun.

"It doesn't have any emotional component in him, Lacus. Keep in mind that although you're a guest of the Vesalius, this is a warship after all," Athrun reminded her. They went back to Lacus's room as he sat down in her bed. "I know it isn't that much fun, but I'm afraid it's the way it is now."

"I know. Athrun, is something wrong?" Lacus asked him.

"It's just that you've been taken hostage during your time inside the legged ship, I just can't help but wonder how you're feeling right now," Athrun replied back. "Although I am grateful to the Serpent Tail for escorting you here."

"Yeah, but your friend treated me with respect while I was on board the ship. The blond haired kid who pilots a pseudo-solar furnaced mobile suit is a different story altogether. He placed me on a couple of life threatening tests to see if I was capable of being human, if that is what he called it." Athrun gasped at what she told him and clenched his fists. "I could sense that he's gone through a lot of trauma in his life though."

"Was that the boy who happened to have met my father?" Athrun asked back. Lacus nodded as he continued to speak, "Why would he do such a thing? He should have known that you're not the type of person to pick up a weapon."

"He did tell me something that may have been useful, but I just can't take it right now." Lacus recalled what Naruto had told her. "He said that ignoring reality is an inadvertent malice which results in unnecessary deaths of anyone around me."

Athrun looked down on the floor. "Does he have a death wish or something?"

"He looked like he was raised to kill since he was just a toddler. I remember him saying that his ancestor used to be a child soldier in the Middle East who fought in the name of God. He became an atheist as a result of that experience," Lacus explained.

"That kid may be the most terrifying person you've ever met. Kira on the other hand, he's just a misguided fool. He just doesn't seem to get the point that everyone aboard that ship's using him," Athrun answered back.

"Well, I've met his friends. They don't seem to be bad towards him. I've also met a guy named Fon Spaak. What can I say? He lightens up the mood inside the ship." Lacus giggled at how Fon would joke around when she was around with him. "Naruto's friends are also kind too."

"So that's his name, isn't it? Naruto? Sounds like a ramen dish." Athrun surmised.

"He said that he would rather not fight against you." Lacus tried to place her hands on his face, but Athrun turned away.

"He's not the only one. I feel the same way too. I'm sorry about my outburst. I ask of you to forgive me." Athrun turned around, saluted and walked out of Lacus' room.

Back in the Gamow, Yzak and his remaining teammates went over their machines' maintenance system in time for the upcoming battle. Dearka concentrated on how he would defeat the Strike's GN powered companion, something even his teammates couldn't ignore simply because they've witnessed his fighting skills on the battlefield. There may be a remote chance that Celestial Being would intervene.

"We've detected Celestial Being's movements. The fighter unit's heading towards South America," one of the CIC announced.

"What about the others?"

"One sniper unit's heading towards the Atlantic Ocean. Probably in the Portuguese coast, and the fat machine is moving towards our base in Carpentaria. Apparently that machine's trying to stop a conflict between our forces and the remnants of the former HRL army on the orbital elevator."

"Just ignore them for now. Right now, we've got better issues to deal with. All hands, prepare for battle. Level one battle stations!"

Yzak grinned and moved towards the catapult. "Yzak Joule, Duel launching!" Dearka and Nicol followed him after he launched out of the Gamow.

"There's the legged ship. Where's that white mobile suit?" Nicol asked.

Dearka gasped as the Astrea moved closer towards them. "Incoming! It's the same solar powered mobile suit from before!"

"Are you serious?" Yzak asked back. All three mobile suits went into formation, circling around the firing range as they split up after the Gamow fired its shot, forcing Fon to activate the Astrea's GN Field to deflect the shot. However, the force of that shot knocked the Astrea to the side. "What is that defensive barrier? It's stronger than the ones at the Umbrella!"

"I've got this." Nicol turned to face the Astrea as he and Fon traded beam shots at each other. "Nice one, but that won't work."

"Wait a minute. Are you the sneaky bastard who wrecked the Umbrella?" Fon asked back. "You're small, but a little irritating at the same time."

"Robert!" Kira yelled, but Yzak came closer towards him. "The Duel...I'm not about to lose here."

"Strike, isn't that what you're called?" Yzak grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades with Kira. "I've got you this time!"

"I'm not about to die here!" Kira yelled as he and Yzak clashed blades. Kira turned towards the Archangel as he saw the Blitz attack the bridge with its beam rifle. "Archangel!"

"Eyes up here, asshole." Yzak continued the assault against the Strike, even as Mu lured Dearka away from the battlefield long enough for Fon to intervene. "That machine...you're Astrea, aren't you?"

"Well, looks like I'm famous around here." Fon snickered and grabbed the Astrea's beam saber. "Kira, the Blitz is attacking the Archangel right at the bridge. Get back there!"

Kira gasped at what Fon said. Just as he had told him, the Blitz continued to fire point blank at the Archangel in the bridge, hoping to damage it in any way possible. Due to the Gottfrieds and Igelstellung's damage at the hands of Celestial Being, it was unusable for this battle. Thoughts of the last battle raced through Kira's mind, not wanting to repeat that same tragic experience once again. All of a sudden, his mind cleared up as an amethyst seed burst.

"The Archangel...I won't let you." Kira turned to the side to avoid Yzak's attack and slammed the beam saber at the waist. He moved towards the bridge as the Blitz jumped out of the way. "Stop it now!"

"What's that guy doing? He suddenly improved his battle skills." Nicol gritted his teeth as he came under attack by Fon's Astrea. "This is getting really bad."

"Now I've got you!" Yzak lunged towards Kira, but he grabbed the Armor Schneider knives and plunged it at the damaged part of the Duel. The cockpit started to explode as Yzak gritted his teeth in pain as he covered his shattered helmet. "It burns...it burns, it burns!"

"Dearka, we've gotta retreat before the Eighth Fleet arrives. That, and we need to get Yzak into the infirmar." Nicol and Dearka retreated away from the Archangel, back towards their own ship.

* * *

**VESALIUS AND VON TRAPP**

Axis was watching an old movie in his room when Athrun entered inside. He gazed up at him as he paused the movie, wondering if he was the same since Lacus had returned to the ship thanks to the Serpent Tail's efforts.

"My sister's down on Earth, fighting the resistance fighters in the desert." Axis resumed his movie. "Although I wouldn't be surprised if Alex ends up fighting in the Middle East, around the former Kingdom of Azadistan."

"ZAFT is trying to gain control of the Middle East, so that we could add some protection to the Gibraltar base," Athrun told him. He looked over to Axis's DVD player and watched the movie beside him. "What's that film?"

"It's some sort of a sci-fi movie." Axis showed Athrun the movie. "Star Trek, the Original Series. I've been watching it since I was ten years old."

"Anyways, we'd better prepare ourselves. The Gamow and the Von Trapp has joined us in time for our attack on the Eighth Fleet, as well as the legged ship. I'm sure you'd want to go out there and score some more kills, right?" Athrun asked back. Axis turned off the DVD player and went out of his room, towards the hangar. "I thought so."

Athrun caught up with Axis a minute later at the hangar as he was about to enter his cockpit. He noticed a couple of new weapon packages that were designated for Axis's GINN, but couldn't figure out how he would use the new weaponry.

"Axis, the new swords that you requested are here, along with some missile pods," the mechanic told Axis.

"Great, I'll just go and test them out," Axis replied back.

Up in the bridge, Le Creuset supervised the ship's movements alongside the Von Trapp. Since the Vesalius had been reinforced with three more Nazca-class warships in time for the battle against the Eighth Fleet, the ZAFT forces were at full swing. It seemed that nothing would deter them from sinking the evasive Archangel, until someone picked up something on the radar.

"Commander, there's an abnormality in this area."

"Patch it up with the nearest warship or mobile suit team," Le Creuset ordered. "At the same time, turn a hundred and ten degrees and set a course for that unknown object."

"Roger that."

The Vesalius moved in another direction, away from the main ZAFT fleet. For two hours, the Vesalius kept track of the unknown signal, hoping to find out what it was. When they reached the designated point, the entire crew was shocked to see what appeared to be a skinny skeletal mobile suit. Unlike the GINNs or the mobile suits they'd captured from the Earth Alliance, the black mobile suit resembled a giant samurai robot, pierced with two katanas. Le Creuset noticed that one of the swords was broken in half and the broken part of the blade was floating around.

"Get Axis up on the comm." Le Creuset kept on looking at the black mobile suit. Once the white coat commander reached Axis on the line, he began to issue instructions. "Axis, I want you to launch towards the unknown object and retrieve it."

"Retrieve it?" Axis echoed his commander's orders.

"Yes. I believe we could use an extra machine like that," Le Creuset replied back.

"Leave it to me. Axis Aker, launching!" Axis moved out of the Vesalius and into the area where the skeletal mobile suit was standing. He noticed the head of the mobile suit resembled that of another machine. "What is that thing?" He contacted the Vesalius to tell them of his report. "This machine is in need of repairs. Retrieving the mobile suit."

"All right."

Axis began to move the skeletal mobile suit back into the Vesalius with his custom GINN. He had a hard time moving the black mobile suit because the GINN was bulky. As soon as he arrived back inside the Vesalius, the mechanics began to clamor around the machine and issued out orders to fix the mobile suit. Athrun saw what's going on and looked astonished at how they were able to retrieve a machine that old.

"What is that thing?" one mechanic asked Axis. He didn't know the answer until Athrun volunteered to enter the cockpit and began to fiddle around with the controls.

"It says here that it's a GNX-Y901TW Susanoo, piloted by a Mister Bushido," Athrun explained. Axis smacked his head and looked at the machine again.

"Mister Bushido? I remember my grandfather telling me that Mister Bushido was my ancestor. An American who was obsessed with defeating the Gundams of Celestial Being, that was Graham Aker. I carry some of his blood in my veins," Axis told Athrun. "You know what this means? It means that Graham must have entrusted this machine to me as a gift of goodwill."

"I highly doubt that he'd give it to you, Axis. The machine looks damaged." Athrun pointed at the holes where the 00 Raiser had stabbed the Susanoo. "We could get it fixed in no time, but do you really intend to pilot that thing?"

"Well, that machine has a pseudo-solar furnace, and it could match that of the Ahead your girlfriend's golden knight piloted," Axis replied. "If anything should happen to this machine, I'd be beating myself up over it."

The mechanics began to pull off some spare parts from the GINN's that were no longer of use so they could reuse them for the damaged Susanoo. Axis joined the mechanics in fixing the black machine as he entered the cockpit and began to rewrite the OS that was probably too old to use. Athrun went out of the Aegis's cockpit and moved closer towards the Susanoo while its broken katana was being repaired using the GINN's discarded sword.

"I've just had a chat with the commander, and it appears that the legged ship's about to enter Earth's atmosphere," Axis explained while he typed away at the computer.

"I thought they'd head for the lunar base," Athrun replied in a confused tone.

"Hmm...since we kept on attacking them, they had no choice but to descend. They'd at least try to get the last mobile suit and the ship in one piece down to wherever they're heading. If Alex and her team faced off against the legged ship, my bet is on a stalemate. Granted, Alex may be skilled against the Earth Forces ships, but against that new white warship? I doubt she'd stand a chance." Axis smirked and finished typing the new OS. "This machine has two GN Tau Drives, but I don't know if it has a system that could sync up both of the drives."

"Aren't you concerned about Alex at all?" Athrun wondered.

"You already saw our battle; she just doesn't care if I die. I'm returning the favor as well by killing her," Axis said darkly. "Then I'll get the love of my parents that I never had."

"Well, wouldn't that make them hate you even more because you killed your own sister?" he asked again as he noticed Axis's lack of remorse when he mentioned that he would kill his sister. "Deep inside, Alex does care about you."

"She has a funny way of showing it." Axis grinned. "Besides, we now have one secret weapon that can prevent Celestial Being from having an advantage with the radar jamming."

"Axis, are you sure that you want to pilot this thing right now in battle? It's not ready yet, and it's running at around forty percent. We won't be able to get it running up to a hundred percent if we deploy this right away. Furthermore, none of us knows how to fix a GN based mobile suit, let alone that thing," the head mechanic told Axis.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I could push its limit just far beyond forty percent," Axis said in a confident tone. "Although I am getting a bit too cocky for my own good."

"Mobile suits to launch in three minutes," the PA called out.

"Athrun, we're going to launch right now. Just let me stay behind for a bit until the Susanoo can be fixed," Axis told him, but Athrun shook his head.

"Axis, you should go launch in your GINN right now."

"Tch. Like I'd fight against the Gundam with just a GINN," Axis spoke back scathingly. He turned to the mechanics and asked. "How long until this machine is completely repaired?"

"I don't know! We'd just re-attached this weird samurai helmet into the head, but maybe it would look nicer if we used your GINN's head for its replacement. That old head seems to be fried," the mechanic pointed at the damaged head. "Get your asses moving! We have to finish the repairs now! We're heading into battle!"

Once the GINN H.M.'s head was taken off of its body and re-attached to the headless Susanoo, Axis began to activate the Susanoo's engines, but with caution since the Tau Drive particles could easily infect the crew present. Axis also knew that his newly acquired Susanoo was just running at forty percent of its capabilities, meaning that he wouldn't be able to use its Trans-Am mode until it is back at a hundred percent capability.

"There's that red Gundam from the legged ship. Where's Kira?" Athrun spotted the Astrea along with the Moebius Zero. "I'm not about to lose to a Gundam that old."

"Mobile armors at ten o-clock!" Axis shouted out as he readied the GN Katana and sliced a mobile armor in half. "I may not need forty percent of this machine's capabilities to shoot down such small fries."

"There's another one." Athrun took aim at the other mobile armor as he shot it down. "Axis, the Eighth Fleet's already-"

"-shielding themselves so the legged ship can go down to Earth. So we'll just hack them down like grass." Axis swung the katana again, this time cleaving off a warship at the bridge, exploding in the process. Axis spotted the other three stolen machines. "You guys are late."

"Yzak's been hurt in the last battle," Dearka told him.

"That ain't good," Axis replied back. Yzak searched throughout the fleet for the Strike, but to no avail. Instead, he came under attack by the Astrea. "Yzak, be careful. That machine can kill you real fast if you slip up."

"I know that!" Yzak grabbed his beam saber and clashed blades with Fon. "This Assault Shroud should teach you a lesson, even if you're a two thousand year old mobile suit!"

"Look who's talking. Your friend has the same mobile suit that's two millenia old," Fon retorted back. He shoved the Duel aside as he reached for his beam rifle and shot back. He noticed the Archangel descending through the atmosphere. "Archangel! Why are you guys already at the atmosphere?"

"The legged ship...we won't let it descend to Earth." Axis and his team moved closer towards the fleet. "Make sure you destroy all the ships and the legged ship. Their admiral must be one hell of an admiral to be so reckless."

"What about that red machine? We can't leave it alone!" Nicol came under attack by the Astrea. He noticed the Archangel's catapult doors had opened, launching the. "Uhh, Yzak?"

"What?" Yzak snapped back. He didn't need to hear the response from Nicol as the Strike launched out. He grabbed the beam saber and clashed with the Strike. "This is for the nasty wound you gave me."

"The Gamow...what the hell is that man thinking?" Axis gritted his teeth as the Gamow approached the Menelaos. "Hey, Captain Zelman! You're way too far out! Get back!"

"Not until I've completed the mission and destroyed the legged ship!" Zelman shouted back.

"You're ramming into the wrong ship!" Axis shouted loudly. "Dearka, Yzak! If you guys head down to Earth, make sure that you land safely! I'm not sure if I can join you!"

"You won't beat me!" Kira shouted at Yzak as they clashed blades once again. Yzak took aim at the incoming shuttle. "Don't fire! That shuttle is full of-"

"-retreating cowards! I'll show them!" Yzak fired the beam rifle at the shuttle as it hit its target, the passengers inside were killed in the explosion. He turned towards Dearka and flew down towards Earth. Kira and Fon rejoined the Archangel a minute later, but they were heading in the different direction.

* * *

**EARTH/SPACE**

Tieria observed the major battle taking place in the Gulf of Carpentaria between the ZAFT forces and the remnants of the former HRL army. The former HRL Tierens were sliced easily by the GINN's swords as some DINN's, CGUE's in the Guul's and a few ZuOOT's were taking aim at the rest of the Tierens. He descended down towards the battlefield and fired his shoulder cannons.

"It's Celestial Being. They're here!" one GINN pilot shouted as he was vaporized by the Hermos' guns.

"Shoot that machine down!" the rest of the GINN's turned their guns towards the fat machine as Tieria took aim with the bazooka.

"Hermos, eliminating targets." The Hermos obliterated the offending GINN's with its bazooka shot before turning towards the old Tierens and doing the same thing. "Mission complete."

In South America, Regene dropped some bombs at the cocaine and marijuana fields before finishing up the mission by shooting down some stray GINNs in the hands of local drug lords. He also shot down an old Realdo before retreating back to his ship. In Gibraltar, Hixar took aim at the approaching GINN's rushing towards him with his beam pistols and shot them all down, but not before he looked up at the incoming Duel and Buster.

"Dagonet, will eliminate targets." Hixar read the mission objectives and gasped as the Duel and Buster weren't listed among the suits to be destroyed. "Looks like my mission is already complete."

Back in space, Leif looked out the window at the aftermath of the battle. Beside Pain stood in front of him, as if Leif was looking at his own reflection. The re-emergence of the one time sadistic Innovade had given Leif something to worry about.

"I don't know why you decided to show up." Leif glared at his own reflection, but he really was glaring at Beside.

**"Like I said, I can't be killed that easily. I still have a score to settle with Fon and Hixar Fermi from that last battle, and I'm not about to forsake that chance. Besides, this world is a very interesting place. Celestial Being will be remembered even in the Cosmic Era as it was remembered in the last era. Leif, there is no way I will die here. Like Ribbons, I'm immortal. Unlike that fool, I won't use other people as pawns. I can only use you as a pawn."**Beside cackled maliciously.**"Not even the two seeds descended from the first Innovator can kill me now."**

* * *

To be continued...

_**Author's Notes:**_

Question: Should a Natural or a Coordinator become a True Innovator? This dilemma is the reason why this fic is stuck where it is right now.


	13. The Fox and the Tiger

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

**UPDATE:** Recently, I've been reading reviews on some of the 00xSEED crossovers and it came to my attention that coordinatos shouldn't become Innovators because they're already enhanced enough, and that only Naturals could become Innovators. Now this could affect the entire story as I originally planned for Naruto to be in a Gundam but had to change his mobile suit to an Ahead so it wouldn't have to be the same Gundam series where he gets the Gundam all the time. I could give him a Gundam, but only after his Ahead gets destroyed. On the other hand, Alex Aker may eventually get a mobile suit that might be based on a hybrid of Kshatriya and Regnant.

_**Turn Thirteen: The Fox and the Tiger**_

Naruto's group of Serpent Tail mercenaries drove along the desert when they found the Archangel stranded there. They didn't have a clue as to how and why it got there, but they arrived there instead of their original target. Once they found the ship, the Serpent Tail mercenaries drove away from the location of the Archangel and went back towards their base in Tassil. Inside the Archangel, Fon and Flay watched Kira struggle with his fever as a result of his ordeal back when he attempted to land the Strike on the ship.

"Poor kid. He's drenched in his own sweat," Fon told Flay as she and Miriallia moved Kira back into bed as his arm flailed into the side. "I've never seen a pilot get a fever after he does an atmospheric entry."

"His fever won't go down. Where's the doctor?" Miriallia asked. Fon left the infirmary and went to the captain's quarters where Murrue and Mu were discussing where they'd landed.

Fon could see a map of the world as Mu pointed and traced the blue color on the map, indicating Alaska,while the red color on the map indicating Libya. He grabbed his AD 2307 era map and studied it as he compared the two maps together.

"This is Alaska, and this is where we are," Mu told her. "We couldn't have picked a better place to land, captain."

"We can't afford to lose the Strike. It was heading in a different direction from where we were landing," Murrue replied back. She looked at Fon and asked, "What's your opinion on this, Mr. Stad?"

"Landing in ZAFT's own backyard seems to be a bit troublesome, but I do know that there are some local resistance groups operating inside ZAFT territory. Add the PMC Trust mercenaries who are fresh out of training in Moralia, you have one hell of a resistance organization," Fon answered. "Still, Kira's suffering from a fever so he may not be able to fight when ZAFT decides to ambush us in the middle of the Libyan Desert. I might be able to go out and fight but the chances of surviving here are slim to none if we don't somehow get help."

"What about the deputy commander?" Mu asked again. Murrue recalled her actions as she rebuked Natarle for making a decision without her consent, despite the fact that Natarle had offered her best argument. "You seem to be down on that lately. I'll go check on the kid now, and then I'll go to sleep. You'd better go to sleep too. A commander musn't be exhausted when she's in command."

"Good idea. I've been looking for the doctor around here." Fon followed Mu into the corridor.

**OUTER SPACE**

Athrun and Axis stood inside the lounge overlooking the hangar as the technicians fixed their mobile suits. A few engineers and technicians worked on repairing the Susanoo as Axis gazed at the face of his own mobile suit, which had been fitted with a GINN's head for now until they can(could) get a proper head for the Susanoo. Athrun was curious about Axis's newly acquired pseudo-solar powered mobile suit, yet the Susanoo was not at its full capacity.

"The Susanoo is like a gift from the gods, and yet I can't master the mobile suit properly," Axis said to him. Nicol entered the lounge a minute later. "Hello, Nicol."

"Both Yzak and Dearka landed on Earth safely, though they did encounter Celestial Being on the way," Nicol reported.

"That's a relief. Our failure to destroy the new warship and their mobile suit is the reason why Le Creuset's back at headquarters, though he won't get a rebuke on that. It seems that he's planning a new operation that will eventually end the war," Axis said. "In any case, there's no need to worry about how Yzak and Dearka will cope once we rejoin them on Earth. If we get the orders to join them that is."

Athrun nodded. "For sure, we'll have to destroy that ship in the long run."

"I also wonder how ZAFT would cope against the mercenaries deployed out of Moralia. We'd have to fight them at some point, but the only thing we need to worry about is destroying the mercenaries' Ahead mobile suit. The Serpent Tail has joined the PMC Trust, so it will be harder to fight against such pilots."

Axis and Athrun followed Nicol out of the lounge and into the hangar where they went inside their mobile suits and started to help the engineers with their maintenance. The Vesalius and one Laurasia-class warship were well out of range of the Serpent Tail Laurasia warship, which was busy with its easy mission as Kirabi's mobile suit returned inside. Since the rest of the Serpent Tail members were on Earth as part of the PMC Trust, Kirabi was the designated pilot of the Serpent Tail forces in space. As the only lone pilot available, he was responsible for completing their missions. His custom Enact was still in its perfect shape by the time they caught up with the Ptolemaios 3.

"This is Karin from the Laurasia over to the Ptolemy. Come in, Ptolemy," Karin said. Demetrius Vashti waved at her and answered back.

"How can I help you?"

"Our friends down on Earth are with the local resistance group. Other than that, we need to get some more people if we want to change the world. Why don't we go back to the Elemental Nations and get some more people. I do have three people in mind," Karin replied back as Tieria came online. "Hello there."

"I heard about your suggestion, and believe me, we'd like to recruit more people into our organization. It's a shame that Naruto didn't want to join," Tieria replied back. "You guys could have been doing missions instead of us."

"We don't have experience. Anyways, there's something you need to see." Karin showed Tieria the image of the Archangel in the last battle against ZAFT when the shuttle was fired on by the Duel. "The Archangel has made it to Earth, but they're stranded in ZAFT territory."

"We'll get a mission that involves that ship at some point, but when things get really dangerous, perhaps your organization could make a great partner to us. In the meantime, we're sending you a mission plan to retrieve a parcel," Tieria said as the lines were disconnected. Karin sighed as she took off from the bridge and ran into Adja.

"We've got another mission coming up," the eight year old girl told her. "It's about a mysterious blueprint that we need to secure first. Our client was right in stating his intentions to acquire these blueprints."

"All right then," Karin told her as they returned to the bridge and the Laurasia warship moved in a different direction. "Laurasia class warship, moving in a different direction, towards L3 Point."

Once the Laurasia arrived at the said point three hours later, Kirabi launched out of the catapult in his Enact and started to fly towards a resource satellite. The Enact cautiously moved through the debris of the colony as he spotted an empty room and climbed down from his cockpit and looked around. He found a folder that contained five different blueprints for some Gundams that were supposed to be built but they couldn't be completed.

"This is Kirabi here. The blueprints are here, now let's grab some beer," Kirabi reported to the Laurasia crew, but he was yelled at by Karin.

"Will you stop with the rapping! It's really annoying!"

"Ya don't know anything about verbal arts, do ya?" Kirabi wondered as he repeated his report, this time in plain language. "I've got a couple of papers listed as the blueprints. Now I'm coming back to the ship."

The Enact moved away from the resource satellite as Kirabi tucked the folder containing the blueprints inside the cockpit. No sooner did he come out of the resource satellite when a Nazca-class warship appeared with five GINNs trailing him. The Kumo jinchuuriki evaded the ZAFT pursuers and tried to return to the Laurasia warship, but they resumed their attacks on them.

"How the hell did you get so careless? Honestly, I think you're as dense as Naruto," Karin growled as the Enact fired its plasma rifle at the GINN, which simply blocked the shots, forcing Kirabi to grab the plasma saber and clashed blades with them. "You've never gotten into fights with the enemy before, so they'll think you're nothing but a weakling."

"No worries, little lady. I've already mastered this thing in simulation," Kirabi replied back cockily. He kicked the GINN aside as the Laurasia warship fired its cannons towards the Nazca-class destroyer, but its shots struck one of the GINNs in the chest. Kirabi took the opportunity to stab another GINN in the cockpit with the plasma saber as it exploded in the aftermath. "All targets destroyed."

The Enact and the Laurasia-class warship approached the Ptolemaios 3 as the Dagonet guided them closer towards their ship. Kirabi climbed out of the cockpit and into the Dagonet as Hixar opened the cockpit and retrieved the parcel they had requested. Once the parcel was delivered, Kirabi went back inside the Enact and returned to the Laurasia warship as Hixar returned to the Ptolemaios 3 and showed the crew the parcel he'd been given.

"I'm sure that these designs were what we wanted," Hixar said as he gave them the blueprints of the mobile suits they had in mind. "These blueprints are the successors to our machines. All of them will possess our Gundams' GN Drive once they're built. However, there should be a lot more resource satellites untouched which contain enough supplies to create the perfect Gundam, in fact there are five mobile suits."

"So who would be piloting those machines if they're built?" Tieria asked back.

"That girl aboard that Laurasia warship said something about recruiting more people from her world. Why not go there and follow her advice?" Hixar asked back while Regene and Leif entered the bridge along with Reena. "So you've wanted to see the blueprints of the Gundams we could have built, right?"

"Yeah. It depends on whether or not we have enough E-Carbon for the construction of those machines." Leif looked at the blueprints and frowned. "Although these machines in the blueprints resemble the third generation Gundams Tieria may have piloted in the past."

"That's the point. If the war goes on, then we'll construct these machines and give them to Naruto's people. Assuming that he changes his mind and joins us," Tieria said. He looked over to Reena and asked. "Are there any missions left?"

"Let's see. There isn't anything much for now, but I can say that the white ship will be attacked by ZAFT forces in North Africa. Fon is inside that ship, so he'll manage. The only thing I'm worried about is that how are we going to intervene in North Africa when ZAFT will expect us to intervene?"

Regene answered back in his sarcastic tone. "Maybe we can drop by and say hello while we obliterate their forces?"

"This isn't funny, Regene!" Tieria scolded his twin brother. "We're supposed to take this seriously!"

"Hold on a second. If they're fighting in the desert, then that must mean they're facing the Desert Tiger, and that's the nickname they gave to Andrew Waltfeld," Demetrius Vashti spoke up as they turned towards him. "I only know a little about that guy, but his hobby is ancient Egyptian archaeology."

"So he's the guy they're fighting against right now?" Tieria asked the crew member. "We will have to intervene at some point."

"About the blueprints, we still have the leftover material from the resource satellites, right? We should get a couple of technicians and start creating those new mobile suits. It's obvious that eventually we will need human Meisters," Demetrius told them. Tieria nodded as he continued to talk. "You said that you wanted to recruit this Naruto guy into Celestial Being, but he refused because he didn't believe in the ideals. The truth is that he wasn't yet ready to commit to our organization."

Hixar nodded. "True, and with Leif's Beside persona out once again, there's no guarantee that he won't betray us."

"All right, so we'll go to Jupiter and contact Naruto's people back in that world and see if they are willing to join us," Tieria responded. Reena arrived at the bridge and smiled as she sat down in her command chair.

"So that's our new mission then. Go and recruit some more people," Reena said as the Ptolemaios 3 moved in the different direction.

**NORTH AFRICA**

Two men were looking at the Archangel through their binoculars as five BuCUEs were gathered just a few miles away from where it landed. One of the men sipped his coffee while his second in command grabbed his empty cup after he finished his coffee and tossed it. They turned towards the ZAFT pilots who stood at attention, explaining to them about the upcoming mission. Twelve miles away from ZAFT's position in the desert, Naruto's recon team stayed in their spot while they prepared their mobile suits in secret.

"We will commence our attack against the new Earth Forces warship, the Archangel. Our objective is to evaluate the vessel's battle strength as well as the mobile suit's abilities," Andrew Waltfeld explained.

"Could we destroy it as well?" one pilot asked, while everyone else laughed lightly.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. We have to be careful though since the Le Creuset team failed to destroy that ship," Waltfeld answered back. "Also, Admiral Halberton's Eighth Fleet allowed the Archangel to descend to Earth by sacrificing themselves. By the way, be careful if your radars are jammed."

"All pilots climb aboard!" Martin DaCosta ordered as the pilots climbed into their BuCUEs and started to move towards the Archangel.

Six missiles flew over towards the Archangel by the time Kira and Fon were at the hangar as they climbed inside their mobile suits so they could launch and counterattack against their new enemies. Unfortunately, there weren't any orders for them to launch yet as the Archangel destroyed three missiles that headed towards them, but the remaining missiles continued to fly towards the white warship. Three combat helicopters launched their missiles and flew off in a different direction as the Archangel kept on getting pounded since it couldn't move away.

"Strike is launching," Kira called out, but Miriallia cautioned him to wait.

"We couldn't detect the enemy, and there are no orders to launch," Natarle explained. Fon contacted them and backed Kira's argument.

"While we're immobile, our enemies have the advantage. We're not just gonna die here like a captured animal while the ZAFT forces are playing 'Hunt the Captured Animal' with us," he told them. "Captain Ramius and Lieutenant Badguirel, all we know for now is that ZAFT has a bunch of helicopters and some unknown looking mobile suits to deploy against two mobile suits of the Gundam type."

"I agree with Mr. Stad, Lieutenant. Although I don't like his attitude, we don't have any choice but to let him go. This ship's guns are useless against moving targets. Launch the Strike and Astrea," Murrue ordered. The catapult doors opened as the Strike and Astrea launched out to counter their new enemies.

"By the way, Robert, have you talked to Flay yet? I tried to resist her advances, but she's so creepy I couldn't even say no when I ended up sleeping with her," Kira said to Fon as the Strike was attached with the Launcher pack.

"Oh boy, Kira. You slept with her? Man, I hope you didn't do it with her," Fon replied back. "Even so, I think you'll have to be careful with her. She snapped like hell after her father died."

The Astrea and Strike were caught in the sand as the missiles nearly struck them in the cockpit. Fon quickly adjusted the Astrea to move while there is gravity, but Kira was still stuck like a sitting duck. Moreover, three BuCUEs leapt into the fray, forcing the Strike into a vulnerable position right now. Fon took aim with the GN Beam Rifle, but the BuCUEs dodged his shots. One of the BuCUEs launched their missiles towards them as the Astrea used the Vulcan guns to shoot them down.

"I don't know how you did on Earth, but here-"

"-BuCUEs rule!"

"I've seen worse things than a mobile suit sized overgrown puppy like yours. I've encountered weird things like the Trilobytes and even that big ass Gadelaza, but your weird ass suit takes the cake!" Fon shouted back, shocked and surprised at the presence of the BuCUEs. Just then, a few missiles fired from the Archangel hit the Strike, even though its targets were the evasive BuCUEs.

Kira jumped up into the sky to get a better aim for his Agni cannon, but the BuCUEs relied on their speed and evasion to avoid getting hit by the cannon. Fon kept on shooting down the missiles aimed towards the Archangel as the BuCUEs turned their attention towards him instead. Fon took aim at the nearest BuCUE as he fired his beam rifle once again. One of the BuCUEs fired their plasma cannons at the Astrea, forcing Fon to put up a shield.

"Hey, Kira! Why don't you try to adjust the Strike to cope well with the gravity? Your machine's still not suited for aerial combat in the atmosphere," Fon suggested. Kira started to type at the keyboard as he endured the attacks a bit longer. "Now that's more like it!"

"Give it up, loser!" the BuCUE pilot yelled, but the Strike kneed the BuCUE in the neck, pinning it down on the ground as Kira aimed the Agni cannon point blank.

"Have some of this!" Kira shouted as the BuCUE exploded after being shot at such a close range with the cannon. He turned towards the remaining BuCUEs as the Astrea fired the beam rifle at them. "Robert!"

Outside the battlefield, Waltfeld and Martin DaCosta watched the Strike adapt to the battlefield environment with the Astrea helping out. He noticed the Astrea's reactor in the back and gasped quietly as DaCosta grabbed the binoculars and dropped them after he took a good look at the Astrea.

"It's a Gundam. A Gundam though it should be extinct," DaCosta whispered fearfully.

"A Gundam? Doesn't the Strike look like that 'Gundam' machine you've mentioned?" Waltfeld asked back.

"Yes, sir. I'm sure that is the Gundam. Some of our forces have reported that their radars have been jammed," DaCosta reported.

"I see. In that case, we'd better start thinking about pulling out of the battlefield if we hope to avoid their armed interventions." Waltfeld started to walk away from the battlefield and into the jeep. "Waltfeld to Lesseps. Open fire on the white warship."

A land battleship fired its cannons from where it was sitting at the Archangel. Kira had shot down the remaining missiles launched from the BuCUE's missile pod when he spotted the shells fired from the Lesseps and moved to intercept them. Kira spotted another BuCUE and punched it towards one of the shells and it struck the BuCUE instead. Kira took aim at the sky as he fired the Agni cannon twice to stop the shells from hitting the Archangel. Fon fired his beam rifle again at the BuCUE. This time his shot hit the target right in the head, resulting in an explosion.

"Captain, the Strike's power level is dangerously low," Miriallia reported. "The Astrea's also low on particles as well."

"This isn't good. I've used the Agni too much," Kira said as he watched the Strike's power gauge go down a bit lower. "We need a miracle for us to survive this."

Suddenly, a missile struck the combat helicopter, surprising Kira and the Archangel's crew. Fon grinned widely as a couple of missile trucks opened fire on the ZAFT forces. He was also pleased to see the incoming Blue Frame, a squad of PMC Trust Enacts and the Ahead Smultron. He realized that it was the Serpent Tail and its new allies were coming to their rescue as the Ahead Smultron fired its beam rifle on the BuCUEs while the Enacts fired their sonic rifles at the combat helicopters.

"Hey, Naruto! Don't jam up the radars because there's a resistance member who's going to give Kira some instructions!" Fon advised the newcomers.

"If you wish to live, then do what I say and go to this point," a resistance member told him.

"Elijah, you take Sakura and Hotaru and search for the Lesseps. Gai and I will take care of the remaining forces here," Naruto told Elijah. The three Enacts flew off in a different direction as he took aim at the incoming combat helicpoter and shot it down with its vulcan guns. "There are three BuCUEs trailing behind us. Keep following us, Kira."

"OK."

"We've found a fighter plane on our way to the Lesseps. We're going to commence our attack on the land cruisers now," Elijah said as the Enacts took formation and fired their sonic rifles at the Lesseps as the cannons were damaged. "Now that's what I call hit and run." The Enacts turned around and flew away from the lightly damaged Lesseps. "We've found the Lesseps, Naruto."

"Good." Naruto nodded and flew alongside Kira and Fon as Murakumo stayed behind to guard the Archangel. Once they reached the target point, they jumped out of the way as a blonde haired woman smirked and pushed a button, detonating the bombs underneath as the BuCUEs who were caught in the trap. She pressed the second button as another explosion finally took the BuCUEs with them. "Looks like ZAFT will have no choice but to retreat now."

**KONOHAGAKURE NO SATOU**

Ever since Naruto's disappearance from the Elemental Nations, the Allied Shinobi Force was in the middle of a war of attrition against the Akatsuki. Madara didn't know about Naruto and Kirabi's disappearance yet, which was good news for the Allied Shinobi Force. The bad news however, was that Naraku had also disappeared into the same world where Naruto and Sasuke were. It seemed that the Allied Shinobi Force was on the verge of the breaking point when Shikamaru's group arrived at the Hokage's office.

"Lady Tsunade, we're back from Otogakure. No signs of Root so far, but we're not too sure if Yao's pirates are still there," Shikamaru said as he turned his report in. "That's all I have right now."

"Well done, Shikamaru. How are the daimyos of Snow and Demon Countries?" she asked back.

"Our ANBU have escorted them back to the Demon Country daimyo's palace. Right now, the rest of the ANBU are cooperating with the other four villages in tracking down the Akatsuki's hideouts," Shikamaru replied back. He turned towards Choji and Kiba as they entered the Hokage's office as well. "On the other hand, we've just visited Master Kurenai and she has given birth to a healthy baby boy."

"That's good news. For your next mission-" Tsunade began, but a messenger burst into the room and handed her a scroll. "What's the hurry?"

"It seems that our ANBU have spotted something in the sky. Kiri and Suna have confirmed the unidentified object as the same weird flying object that entered this world before. I'm certain that it belonged to those weirdos with the unusual hair," the messenger reported. "They'll be here in an hour."

"I see. Well then, I want you to send four scrolls to all the Allied Kages immediately." Tsunade handed four scrolls to the messenger and he departed from the Hokage's office. "I wonder what they want this time."

The Konoha messenger delivered the messages to his counterparts from the allied villages and had the scrolls relayed to their Kages, who were gathered in Kumogakure. Just as the messenger had predicted, the shuttle carrying Tieria and Hixar arrived in Konoha, but Leif and Hixar accompanied them this time. Tsunade wasn't entirely pleased to see them again, after what happened to Naruto, yet she felt hopeful that they would have some news about his whereabouts.

"Hello again, Lady Tsunade," Hixar told her as Tieria looked at the Konoha shinobi. "I assume you're gathering the rest of your allies for a meeting this time. A redheaded girl suggested to us that we could recruit some of your people into our organization. If it's possible, we would like to forge an alliance between your Allies and our organization."

"We have one war on our hands, and you wish to bring another conflict into this world?" Tsunade asked suspiciously.

Tieria looked at her and spoke in a blunt tone. "One of the fugitives you're looking for is there in our world. He will use the experience he has learned and the resources he has acquired to make sure he brings both worlds under his control. Do you want to avoid another war? Ignoring reality is an inadvertent malice that brings out the worst tragedies as a result of your foolish actions."

"We're older than you, so we take offense to your tone, young man," Tsunade replied back sternly, but Tieria smiled.

"Innovades like us are actually ageless, and we've seen far worse things than you could ever imagine. This fugitive that you seek is not just another warrior. He's the same man who will destroy both descendants unless you do something to ensure that we're unified in our struggle. Or have you forgotten that one of Setsuna F. Seiei's bloods runs in the veins of your whiskered comrade?" Tieria replied back heatedly. "As soon as Shimura Naraku unites with the remnants of his rag tag group with Blue Cosmos and LOGOS, humanity's existence and the peace we've fought for will be all for nothing."

"Lady Tsunade, I may not agree with what the stranger is talking about, but we haven't forgotten about Naraku. If what he said is true, then not only would Naraku take over both worlds, but he will enact the same twisted visions that Danzo envisioned for the shinobi world. Don't you want to destroy Danzo's legacy and defeat Akatsuki at the same time?" Shikamaru spoke up. Tsunade looked down at her desk and spoke back.

"I can't afford to lose any more people in our war."

"We will help, but we are not shinobi. However, we can help you with intelligence and combat operations," Regene said. "In exchange for our expertise, we may need to recruit some potential members from among the Five Elemental Nations, possibly as pilots."

"Pilots?"

"Gundam Meisters," Tieria told them. "We can discuss this with the rest of the Kages and talk about it."

"Yes, you're right. How do I get there in such a short amount of time?" Tsunade asked back.

"Our shuttle will take you there," Leif spoke up. "We might as well go right now while the world is in the middle of the war."

Upon arrival in Kumogakure, the five Kages and Mifune gathered around the table as the Meisters stood at the center of the meeting room. All of the shinobi guards were present, along with a few samurai that accompanied Mifune into Kumo. Leif and Tieria waited until Mifune started to talk in front of everyone present.

"We have come to this meeting to discuss our next move in our war against the Akatsuki led by Uchiha Madara. As of now, there is an organization who wishes to help us with the war and take care of their own war back in their world. I will allow them to speak now." Mifune sat down and allowed Tieria to talk.

"As you all know by now, we simply call ourselves Celestial Being. We are an armed organization that is dedicated to the eradication of war from the entire world through the use of force. Yes, our goals seem to be contradictory. We get that a lot, but we remain true to our goals. I believe that there is a war here in this world, and we wish to help you end it as soon as possible. Although we aren't shinobi who can wield chakra, we can help your armies by gathering intelligence that can't be accessed by normal human beings. At the same time, one of your village's fugitive has already arrived in our world and seeks to use our world's power to conquer and dominate both your world and ours," Tieria explained. "We also propose to you Kages that we intend to recruit some of your shinobi for our organization."

"That is out of the question," the Raikage replied back firmly. "We would agree to your help, but we can't supply your organization with manpower while we're hard pressed. You've already had two live jinchuuriki sent to your world to prevent them from falling into Madara's hands, so why should we help you?"

"You're right. However, the fact that Shimura Naraku would also strive to take over both worlds with the possible help of the Akatsuki would be another factor," Regene replied back. "Think about it: if Madara and Naraku join forces while we are still divided, we can't win the war and accomplish the goal of eradicating conflict from the world."

"The world of the shinobi is built upon precisely the same conflicts that happen overtime. If you succeed in accomplishing your goal on our world as well as yours, then our way of life would come to an end," A the Fourth Raikage told the Meisters. "What would be the purpose of a shinobi if there were no more conflicts?"

"Then maybe you should surrender to Madara and let him dictate your lives. Is that what you want?" Tieria snapped back. "A shinobi can have other uses besides resolving conflict. What happened to understanding each other?"

"Despite your good intentions, I'm afraid that the shinobi world has displayed the worst excess of human distortion, which would make the eradication of war impossible. We've grown old, seeing the same conflicts erupt over and over again," Onoki explained.

Gaara stood up. "Have you forgotten my question, everyone? Why have you forsaken yourselves?"

"You may be too young to be a Kage, but you're just as wise as your father was," Onoki replied back, but Gaara just glared at the Tsuchikage for bringing up the issue of the Yondaime Kazekage.

"We should come up with a compromise for this deal. It's impossible for us to lend you our remaining shinobi, but what we could do is to give your organization a place to call your headquarters in case Madara strikes again. Your headquarters can serve as the command post for the Allied Shinobi Forces as well as any forces in your world that would fight alongside us," Mei said as she stood up. "Your organization has already done us a favor by keeping the Raikage's brother and that Uzumaki fellow away from the battlefield."

"Thank you for the suggestion, ma'am," Leif bowed. "All of the other neutral nations should be involved in this war too, since they are in as much danger as your countries are."

"In any case, we will come to an agreement. We'll help you set up a command post here in Lightning Country and you will help us with intelligence. Is that understood?" Tsunade told the Meisters.

Tieria nodded. "It shall be done, Lady Hokage."

"Good, then I shall adjourn this meeting." Mifune banged the gavel as the Meisters left the conference room and went back to their shuttle. Leif started the engines as the shuttle reached for the wormhole in the Dimension Country and warped back to their world.

**NORTH AFRICA**

The Desert Dawn and their Serpent Tail allies congregated just outside the Archangel as they waited for the officers to come out and introduce themselves. Kira noticed a familiar blonde woman among the guerrillas as he remembered her from when they were stuck in Heliopolis. Naruto climbed out of the Ahead as he joined the rest of the guerrillas waiting for the Archangel's crew to show up.

"Do you think they're hostile?" Natarle asked curiously.

"I don't see them pointing their weapons at us. We should return the favor and at least talk to them," Murrue replied back. "After all, they did save us back there."

"Yes, but I noticed a red mobile suit among the resistance fighters." Natarle pointed at the Ahead on the screen. "I thought that machine was destroyed along with the other machines in the aftermath of the Reconstruction War when those weird aliens destroyed anything that runs on solar power or has a solar furnace."

"The mobile suit named the GNX-704T Ahead. That's what the history books have said about the mobile suit infamous for its cargo of anti-personnel Automatons," Murrue said. She got up and went to the elevator. "You take charge while I go to meet the resistance fighters."

Murrue joined Mu and the rest of the Earth Forces officers who armed themselves with old assault rifles. She joined them as she and Mu loaded their pistols and went out of the ship. The resistance fighters only saw the two officers and allowed Murrue to talk first.

"It's only proper courtesy to thank you for what you did for us last night," Murrue said. "I'm Murrue Ramius, and I'm an Earth Forces officer aboard the Archangel from the Eighth Fleet."

"Wasn't the Eighth Fleet destroyed in space?" a young boy asked.

Naruto nodded. "I'm sure of it. If the Eighth Fleet didn't sacrifice them, then we wouldn't see them right now."

"Our group is called the Desert Dawn. I'm Sahib Ashman, and you don't need to thank us. We were just doing our job in resisting the Desert Tiger. Our Serpent Tail allies from the PMC Trust stationed in Moralia have also helped us out of sticky situations too," Sahib Ashman said. He pointed at the Serpent Tail members as they walked towards them and bowed. "As you can see, they were sent here because we requested help in fighting the ZAFT occupation."

"You've been fighting the Tiger for a while, huh?" Mu asked back.

Sakura nodded. "You're the Hawk of Endymion, right?"

"That's me, young lady," Mu replied in a soft tone.

"That machine over there is the GAT-X105 Strike. I've seen that machine before because it was discovered in Heliopolis," Naruto spoke after Sahib informed them of their status. "It's good to know who you guys are. If you're friendly, then I suggest that you disarm yourselves. That pilot should come down from there as well."

Kira climbed down from the Strike and met up with Naruto and the Serpent Tail members, but the blonde girl who fought with the resistance members gasped as she realized who the pilot was. She ran towards him and clenched her fist.

"So it is you. What is someone like you doing here, huh?" she asked angrily as Kira caught her wrists.

"Cagalli, that's enough," Naruto said as he walked towards the two teens. "Please control yourself. You're a resistance fighter, not a sibling of that pilot."

"At least we know who took the last machine," Murakumo spoke up as Murrue and Mu turned around and saw him. "I'm Gai Murakumo, leader of the-"

"-Serpent Tail. I've heard about you from our superiors as someone who became a mercenary," Mu replied back. "To think you've also become the pilot of another mobile suit similar to the Strike."

"I haven't seen that mobile suit before," Cagalli said as she looked up at the Blue Frame.

The Desert Dawn resistance fighters took the Archangel into the hideout as the other PMC mercenaries who had joined alongside Naruto's Serpent Tail allies were busy maintaining their machines and hand weapons. Sahib guided the three officers into the hideout as two PMC mercenaries saluted them.

"I heard that we're getting more help from Moralia," one PMC mercenary told his comrade.

"It is possible. They might send that Russian guy," the other PMC replied back. "Who was it? Oh yeah, Dmitri Smirnov."

"Let's just hope that we're going to get help. That white ship is going to need a lot of support to get past the Tiger," the first mercenary replied back.

Naruto sighed and saluted to the sentries as he turned towards Murakumo and Elijah. "They'd better stick to their promise and actually send reinforcements. If we're under attack by the Tiger again, then we can't reach our allies in Sulamaniya."

"True. We will have to prevent the Archangel from getting into the rest of ZAFT occupied Africa. We could suggest to them that they go through the Middle East. Besides, we're gonna need to get into the former Republic of Krugis and set up our base there if we're going to eject ZAFT out of Africa and Eurasia," Elijah answered back. He spotted three mercenaries transporting crates full of ammunition and rifles as they laid it down on the ground. "That's good."

"What kind of rifle would you prefer, Ensign Uzumaki?" asked one of the PMC mercenaries who transported the ammunition crate to the base.

"Well, I'd like a rifle that cannot be jammed easily in the sand. I have a combat knife that I can use, and a pistol." Naruto showed him the three pronged kunai and a pistol. The mercenary took the pistol and tested it, but he threw it to the ground.

"That pistol's broken, and you said you preferred a rifle that doesn't jam easily, right?" the mercenary asked back.

"Yeah."

"Then I suppose you'd want this antiquated AK-9 assault rifle." the mercenary showed Naruto and Murakumo one of the antiquated assault rifles from the AD era. "Despite the newer Cosmic Era assault rifles, I kinda liked the AK series."

"Is this for when we're going to fight hand to hand?" Naruto asked back curiously.

"Yeah. The AK-9 is also useful in launching grenades. If you want to survive in the battlefield without a mobile suit, or if you get shot down, you would need a good assortment of weapons. An assault rifle is one of them, but you'll also need ammunition and two pistols in case one of them is jammed." the mercenary gave Naruto the AK-9 assault rifle. "The other antiquated AK-200 is also here, but we're keeping a handful until we could mass produce them. We're using AK rifles in our operations in Australia as well."

"I'll take these pistols too," Naruto replied back as he picked up two pistols from the crate. "We carry these around, right?"

"Of course, just to make sure you don't get yourself killed," the mercenary replied back as he went off to pick up some more crates.

"This room is organized. Do you guys live here?" Mu asked Sahib.

"Well, this is our front line base. Our homes are elsewhere in the towns, assuming that the Tiger hasn't torched them to the ground yet," Sahib answered back darkly. "Towns like Tassil, and some guys come from as far as Banadiya."

"We do appreciate the help you've given us. By the way, who's she?" Mu asked back, pointing at the blonde woman.

"Her?" Sahib pointed at her. "That's Cagalli Yula. She is our goddess of victory. If I'm not mistaken, you guys are trying to get to Alaska."

Mu frowned. "There is something that's bothering me. Even within our location, why can we see a tall tower that reaches up to space?"

"That tower? Lt. La Flaga, that tower is an orbital elevator. It's inactive right now, but when the three superpowers were still alive and in power, three giant orbital elevators were built to harness the energy from the sun. The tower we're all seeing right now, it used to belong to the former European Union, or its proper name, the AEU. The inactive orbital elevator is currently controlled by ZAFT." Sahib pointed at the map of Africa where the AEU tower was located. "The other two orbital elevators are inactive right now as well, like the one at South America that is under Earth Alliance control. Heaven's Pillar is located in Southeast Asia, which used to be controlled by the remnants of the former HRL and is currently controlled by the Orb Union. That is also where ZAFT is having the hardest time trying to consolidate control."

Outside of the resistance base, Kira finished covering the Archangel with the cloth provided to him as Sai passed him by. Cagalli came by and apologized to Kira, but he only chuckled lightly.

"You've been on my mind ever since we last saw each other back in Heliopolis," Cagalli started. "I kept on asking myself what has happened to you lately. Next thing I know, you show up on a mobile suit, and not just any mobile suit. One of the Earth Force's new prototype machines. Even worse, you're with the Earth Forces?"

Fon arrived at the rock where the two teens were talking. "Hello, guys."

"Robert. Have you met Cagalli yet?" Kira introduced Cagalli to Fon. "She was at-"

"-Heliopolis. We've met before," Cagalli continued.

"A lot of things have happened," Kira spoke back as a tanned, muscular man eavesdropped on their conversation.

Back inside the resistance cell, the top officers discussed the situation about ZAFT with Sahib while studying the map. Murakumo and Elijah joined in the discussion as two more PMC Trust mercenaries saluted and delivered a folder containing a bundle of papers to Murakumo.

"Three days ago, the Victoria base was captured by ZAFT. As a result, they were able to expand straight to southern Africa, though they didn't capture entire continent. They actually made an attempt to run the orbital elevator in order to generate some solar energy because the N-Jammers have disrupted nuclear energy around the world. So far, ZAFT isn't doing well handling technology from the AD era." Sahib pointed at the middle of Africa on the map. "The African Community has traditionally sided with the PLANTs, but the South African Union has tried to resist the ZAFT invaders, but in the end the Earth Forces abandoned them."

"That's rough. You guys kept fighting ZAFT, didn't you?" Mu asked back, which earned him a glare from Sahib. He sipped his coffee and spoke back.

"ZAFT, Earth Alliance. They're no different from each other. All armies come to this place for only one purpose: to plunder. It is the same thing with the Earth Alliance's previous successor and its three major superpowers that continuously fight each other," he said. "How (well) can your ship fly in the atmosphere?"

"Well, it can't fly above altitude," Natarle answered back.

"So your best bet is to break past Gibraltar, but that's too risky. We could have provided some help for your ship by getting it closer to the Middle East and Central Asia. It is smooth sailing from there since you're sailing through Earth Forces territory," Murakumo explained. "Another option would be to go through the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but you'll be facing ZAFT forces from Carpentaria and the rest of the Oceania Union. That other option might be feasible since ZAFT is currently fighting against two or three rival resistance movements there. One of them wants the entire Oceania Union to be neutral, the other resistance group supports the Atlantic Federation, and a third group supports Eurasia. Of the other two resistance movements there, they have been fighting each other as well."

"Why's that?" Murrue asked back.

"The Oceania Union Liberation Front traces its roots from the Australian fighters who defended their country from the former HRL invasion. It was precisely that continent which gave the League a hard time in trying to defend their orbital elevators. Two thousand years later, the Oceania Union Liberation Front is fighting against a pro-HRL Free Oceania Union Forces, which traced their roots from the HRL invaders and anti-World Economic Union resistance groups," Murakumo answered back. "Furthermore, the Free Oceania Union Forces have joined hands with the remnants of the former HRL Army after the Earth Alliance was born, and long after the Earth Sphere Federation collapsed."

"Why reach that point when you haven't crossed the bridge yet? You still have to get past Banadiya," Sahib said cautiously. "The Lesseps is there, along with another ZAFT team that has joined them. I believe it was one of the Akers who led this team."

Murrue was curious at that name. "Aker?"

"To make the long story short, that Aker team is led by a descendant of a Union officer who was rumored to have gained a promotion after accidentally killing his superior officer in a sparring match," Sahib spoke. "The Aker team we're facing is led by a woman."

"Alex Aker. She's the one with those weird thrusters on her CGUE, and she's utterly ruthless," Murakumo answered back. "Sahib, if the worst case scenario happens, we may have to eliminate her team."

**ZAFT LAND CRUISER LESSEPS**

Alex Aker and her team gathered around the BuCUEs as they waited for Waltfeld to show up. Her CGUE was attached to a Guul, and her team had their GINNs attached to the Guuls as well. When the Desert Tiger finally arrived, he and DaCosta briefed them on their next mission.

"The time has come for us to launch an attack on the resistance fighters' base. I admit that their horseplay was a bit too rough last night, so we'll pay them a visiting call," Waltfeld explained.

"So the target is Tassil, right? Why not just round up a couple of civilians and shoot them?" Alex suggested. Waltfeld cleared his throat and stared at her as if she was crazy.

"Unlike Le Creuset, I don't kill people for unnecessary reasons at all, Commander Aker," he answered back.

"You're too soft to be a commander. Sooner or later, they'll just grab a new weapon and keep on fighting," she replied back in a malicious tone. "We'll come with you, but we should not only burn the town down, but launch a massacre against the civilians to make them an example to those who oppose us."

"That is what Le Creuset would do if he was running this occupation, Commander Aker. I admit that you're far more ruthless than Le Creuset himself." Waltfeld and DaCosta went to their jeep as the ZAFT forces started to take off with their mobile suits.

"Commander Aker, are we really going to launch a reprisal against the people of Tassil?" Jaden Tanner asked her while he flew beside her CGUE aboard his GINN.

"Partially no. We are going to massacre civilians as well to lure that cone reactor mobile suit," Alex answered back.

When they reached the town of Tassil, Waltfeld and DaCosta stopped and looked at the town with their binoculars as the Aker team stopped flying and descended to the ground. The BuCUEs joined them a while later.

"There are some people like Le Creuset and Alex Aker who like to have them all killed in retaliation. Not me, I'd prefer to give them a warning before torching everything down to the ground, but that's what makes me a softy in the eyes of ruthless commanders like them," Waltfeld told DaCosta.

"I feel sorry for her brother though. He must have felt so awful to have a family who rejected him," DaCosta answered back.

Fifteen minutes later, the BuCUES launched their attack on Tassil as everyone started to flee from their burning homes. True to Alex's word, she blocked their escape route and started to open fire on the civilians, killing them. Waltfeld and DaCosta arrived at the burning town and shouted at her.

"What are you doing? We're not supposed to massacre them!" Waltfeld yelled.

"You're too soft for your own good, Commander Waltfeld. It's no wonder Le Creuset was a far better commander than you are," Alex said as she continued to fire her rifle.

In the resistance base, Naruto's group looked through their binoculars and gasped as they saw the town being attacked by ZAFT. The Serpent Tail group notified the Desert Dawn fighters as they climbed aboard their mobile suits and flew away from the resistance base and to the town itself. Murakumo fired his beam rifle as the Blue Frame took out a BuCUE with one shot while Alex turned her attention towards the approaching Ahead.

"So that's why you initiated a massacre. So you could lure that mobile suit out," Waltfeld told himself as the Ahead fired its beam rifle at the second BuCUE, hitting its target.

"I'm glad to see you again, you old dinosaur. I'm finally going to defeat you today," Alex said as she grabbed her beam saber and slammed it at the Ahead's shield. She noticed as the Enacts arrive and engage the remaining BuCUEs as her team mates fired back with their rifles. "Jaden, Cyrus. Take care of the Enact squadron. I've got the solar powered mobile suit."

"You lousy bitch, slaughtering civilians when they've done nothing wrong!" Naruto snapped back. "You're gonna pay for what you've done!"

"Hmph! Their husbands and sons took up arms against us. We're just punishing them for their crimes." Alex turned her attention towards Murakumo inside the Blue Frame and kicked the beam rifle out of his hands. She grabbed the discarded beam rifle and fired twice at the Ahead, destroying the left shoulder and the head as well. Naruto retaliated by slicing the CGUE's left leg. "You're good, but you're not gonna live much longer!"

"Is that so?" Naruto lunged forward with the damaged Ahead towards her. Alex slashed at the Ahead with her sword. As it scratched the Ahead, enabling her to see her opponent, she noticed his facial resemblance.

"Blond hair, blue eyes. You almost look like our ancestor, Graham Aker. The only difference is that Graham Aker's got green eyes, and you have blue eyes. It's a shame really, because I'm going to kill you." Alex grabbed her sword and pointed it at him.

"I'll say the same thing to you." Naruto grabbed his own beam saber and held it with the Ahead's two hands.

To be continued...

So that stops the first part of the Desert Tiger arc, and I kinda got Naruto to have his mobile suit damaged that early, but eventually he will be slotted to another GN powered suit. The Gundam fit for him comes at the end of the Bloody Valentine War.

As for the original plans I had in mind for this fic, I originally proposed for Naruto to start with the Gundam right away. This time, I may give him a Gundam midway through this fic, but there will be five Gundams in total, three of them will be recycled from the original new CB Gundams of the CE era. I've already decided that Murakumo, Elijah Kiel and Goud Veia will be the other three perfect candidates. Fans, I'm sure you'd like to see how Fon Spaak goes up against Goud Veia.

Finally, this fic is slow in updates because I am writing another fic, as well as working together with Raxius and C.C. on the Code GeassxStar Trek fic, so that kinda gives me a wrench to my plans. Until then, stay healthy and enjoy your spring and summer season.


	14. The Lair of the Beast

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Fourteen: The Lair of the Beast**_

* * *

**NORTH AFRICA**

Two mobile suits stood off against each other, as they held their melee weapons tightly while waiting for one of them to make a move. Alex lunged towards Naruto with her sword as he blocked her blade with his beam saber. They kept on slashing at each other until both pilots disarmed each other. Naruto was the first one to pick up the beam saber as he sliced the CGUE's left arm and stabbed the saber in the head as well.

"How is this possible? His skills are just like Axis's!" Alex told herself. "He's not only good at close range, but his accuracy in marksmanship has improved slightly from the last time I fought him."

"Naruto, you'd better finish her off! We're retreating right now," Murakumo told him. "What are you doing?"

"I can't retreat right now! I'm surrounded by two GINNs approaching from behind," Naruto replied back. "I'm sure those GINNs belong to her team."

"Either way, we can't allow her team to descend upon Tassil, or what's left of the town." Elijah fired his sonic rifle towards one of the GINNs as it backed away. "She's all yours, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and continued to deflect the blows off Alex's sword until she managed to slice the Ahead's left arm off. Naruto responded by firing the vulcan guns towards her CGUE so she could be slowed down long enough for his team to retreat. By the time the lesseps fired a retreat signal, Alex and her team left the battlefield, leaving Naruto to pick up the Ahead's severed arm.

"That was close. Let's call it a day and head back to the resistance cells," Murakumo suggested to Naruto. He didn't need to argue about his choice since his Ahead needed to be fixed before he could fight once again.

Meanwhile, Alex returned to the Lesseps as she and her team faced the Desert Tiger. He was a bit upset about what she had done, but Alex didn't care about how he handles things in the desert. Her teammates could have agreed with her opinion about Waltfeld since they witnessed his unorthodox method of giving the inhabitants of Tassil some time to leave before they raze it to the ground.

When Waltfeld returned to his office inside the Lesseps, he banged his fist on the table in frustration at how his mission ended in a complete failure, though he managed to complete one of his objectives. However, the behavior displayed by Alex proved to him that she should be restrained, or at least punished for her actions. Furiously, he exited his room and stomped towards the female Aker sibling as she talked to her subordinates. Waltfeld grabbed her and shook her.

"What's wrong with you, commander? What's up with the anger problem?" she asked defiantly.

"We were going to raze the town without any casualties, and you just had to screw it up!" Waltfeld snapped back at her. They glared at each other fiercely as Alex gritted her teeth.

"We lured the solar powered mobile suit out into the open, right? His weakness is that he couldn't allow himself to witness another person dying in front of him. We'd eventually exploit his weakness to our advantage," Alex replied back seriously, even as she stopped Waltfeld from slapping her in the face. "You may have spared some more people from that town, but their husbands would simply fight to the finish. Our actions would fuel their desire for revenge, and we will have to kill them all to get the message across."

"We are not like the Earth Forces who commit massacres all the time," Waltfeld answered. He massaged his head to calm himself. "Commander Aker, until our next major operation, you and your team are hereby assigned to ship duties. You and your team are forbidden from going out to sortie."

"Yes, sir." Alex and her team saluted bitterly and walked away. Waltfeld sighed and turned to DaCosta. They returned to his room shortly after the Aker team returned to their rooms.

"Does her actions have to do with her brother, or her own nature?" DaCosta asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's both. Alex Aker's one hell of a woman, and not even Le Creuset would escape her wrath if she was angry," Waltfeld replied back. He entered the captain's quaters and sat down in his chair. "DaCosta, I need you to contact Gibraltar. It seems that we may need some help."

"With what, sir?" DaCosta started to type on the keyboard as the commander of the Gibraltar garrison saluted to him once they were online. "Hello there, Commander."

"Commander Waltfeld, what a surprise. Is this about your request for more BuCUEs? You know we're short on those," the Gibraltar commander told Waltfeld.

"I know that, but I wonder if you could send me one pilot to my team. I have someone in mind." Waltfeld turned to DaCosta and beckoned for him to leave.

"Who would that be?"

"Axis Aker," Waltfeld answered. The Gibraltar commander gasped in horror.

"Sir, with all due respect, he's not in a good condition to fight. He's here with Joule and Elsman, but why would you want him with you? I thought the Aker team is sufficient enough," the commander said.

"I have punished Alex Aker and her team for excessive violence in our latest crackdown on Tassil. Bringing Axis in would make her understand the severity of her crime," Waltfeld explained sternly. The Gibraltar commander sighed and nodded.

"We'll grant your request. However, we still have to fix his new mobile suit that he acquired in outer space. It's a solar powered mobile suit that was found on an abandoned colony, and it was the Le Creuset team who found it. I'll see if we could get the supply corps to spare some more available BuCUEs," the commander spoke back as the link was offline.

* * *

Back in the resistance cell a few miles away from Tassil, the PMC engineers started to fix the Ahead by reattaching the severed arm back to the frame, Naruto and Murakumo began to test out the newly arrived Enact that was delivered to them by the PMC Trust in Moralia. The Enact in question was painted red, meaning that it was somehow used in the past. Elijah walked towards them as he gave them a piece of paper containing the latest news from the Serpent Tail forces in outer space.

"Guys, you wouldn't believe this. It seems that Celestial Being has found another abandoned resource satellite," Elijah told them. "What's more is that both they and ZAFT are looking for Goud Veia."

"Goud Veia? Are they nuts or what? That psycho's dead, and from what I remember during our battle against him before we found Naruto and his friends is that he has a split personality," Murakumo told him. "In any case, it'd be better if we'd find him first before Celestial Being or ZAFT gets him."

Elijah turned around and grabbed a toolbox as he went over to the Ahead and gave it to the engineers who were busy fixing it. Naruto was inside the cockpit, typing away on his keyboard to make sure that the repairs were completed in case they had to fight the Desert Tiger once again.

"How's the severed arm doing?" Elijah asked Naruto. "If you hadn't picked up that arm, you would have gone to battle with only one right arm and no other weapons left."

"That's the scary part, I guess," Naruto replied back. "By the way, while the Ahead is being fixed, could I sortie in the Enact that was delivered today? You know, the red Enact."

"Yeah, I guess you could use that while the Ahead is undergoing repairs," Elijah said. "We'll wait until the Desert Dawn launches an attack on the Desert Tiger once again, and that will be when we start fighting too."

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

* * *

Kirabi launched in the Enact to investigate another junk that was floating around in space as a damaged GINN floated towards him. Just beside the Serpent Tail's Laurasia warship was the Ptolemaios 3, which was helping them with retrieving the GINN. Once the GINN was safely secured inside the Laurasia warship, Kirabi and the other crews opened the cockpit to see an unconscious ZAFT soldier in a red flight suit. They cautiously helped him out of the cockpit and laid him into the stretcher as Kirabi accompanied them into the infirmary.

"We've got an identification of this unconscious pilot. He's identified as Goud Veia of the 23rd Mobile Suit Regiment, and his GINN has taken a lot of damage. We'll confirm this news to our friends down on Earth." Kirabi and the medics arrived at the infirmary where Loretta started to issue instructions for the medics to operate on him.

"How did he end up here, out of all places?" Adja arrived at the infirmary as her mother was busy giving orders. "Have we notified Elijah about him?"

"Yeah. Plus, Celestial Being will commence an armed intervention down on Earth sometime after they're done delivering the parcels we sent them to the engineers," Loretta told her. "Why don't you go back to the bridge and tell Gai the news."

"All right."

Inside the Ptolemaios 3, Tieria was busy briefing the Meisters of their new mission plan. This time, Leif was absent from the briefing because they can't afford to screw up the mission with Beside Pain roaming around him once again. Hixar and his old partner Hayana looked over to the Dagonet and watched as their mechanics attached a new binder to the Dagonet itself.

"Our mission is to evaluate the battle strength of the ZAFT land battleship and destroy it along with the new mobile suit they've brought in. Be cautious, since their new machine has a false solar reactor as well," Tieria warned. He showed the other Meisters the image of the Susanoo that was damaged during Setsuna's last battle with Graham. "Only Setsuna is familiar with this machine. It's the mobile suit that was constructed using the frame of the Flag."

"I'm familiar with that machine too. It also accompanied the Regnant into one of the colonies where Liu Mei gave Setsuna the coordinates for VEDA," Regene spoke up.

"Then we have to come up with a strategy to defeat that machine too. Leif will eventually join us, but for security reasons we can't allow him into the briefing," Tieria replied back. "On the other hand, we've finally managed to reach a deal with Naruto's homeworld in terms of how we'll help them."

A minute later, Reena entered the bridge and handed the Meisters the mission log. "For your next mission, you'll all head down towards the North African desert where ZAFT is planning on attacking the-"

"-Desert Dawn forces. I've already done briefing the other Meisters as well," Tieria finished for her. The Meisters left the bridge and headed down to the hangar as they climbed inside their Gundams and took off from the ship. They descended down to Earth as the ZAFT Gibraltar forces are scrambling to meet the incoming threat.

* * *

**NORTH AFRICA**

* * *

Axis was surprised to be assigned to Waltfeld's forces in the desert just a few days after he and his teammnates (mainly Yzak and Dearka) had arrived safely on Earth. Upon hearing of Alex's punishment for her role in the massacre of the inhabitants of tassil, Axis grinned maliciously and felt satisfied to hear his sister getting the short end of the stick. A half hour later, three more BuCUEs that were sent from Banadiya joined in the battle along with five ZuOOTs and the Susanoo was following them. In the resistance cells, the PMC Trust and their Desert dawn allies scrambled for their mobile suits as Naruto launched in the red Enact.

"Enemy forces detected. They're all ZAFT machines, and a new model. Crap! No one told us about that suit!" Naruto gasped as he saw the Susanoo charge towards him. He grabbed his sonic rifle and fired back as Axis dodged those shots and slammed his GN Katana into the Enact's sonic blade rifle. "I've got a question to ask you, pilot of that new model."

"A voice? Who the hell are you?" Axis asked back.

"Do you know the pilot of the custom CGUE who launched a massacre?" Naruto asked curiously.

Axis gasped. "You've met my sister Alex?"

"So that's her name, isn't it? Alex Aker, my opponent who shows no mercy towards her opponents?" Naruto grunted as his Enact was kicked aside by the Susanoo. "Are you going to be attacking civilians mercilessly too?"

"Hell no! I am not like my so-called perfect sister! I'm a man with honor, and I can see that my sister must have compared you to our ancestor, Graham Aker. Since this is the first time that we've fought, let us make our duel an honorable one." Axis raised the GN Katana above his head and slammed it at the Enact. "You're skilled, young warrior. I'm Axis Aker, the man who wants to know a lot more about the man with the connection to Athrun Zala."

"Naruto Uzumaki at your service, Axis Aker. So why don't we continue this elsewhere?" Naruto and Axis continued to clash blades. Axis saw the Enact's armament and threw the GN Katana into the sand. "Why would you throw one of your own weapons down on the ground?"

"I want you to use that sword while we fight. I hate it when I have to fight someone with a clear disadvantage against me. In my duels, it should be fair and square," Axis told Naruto. He picked up the GN Katana and slammed it against Axis's GN Katana as well. "I also heard from Alex that you've piloted the Ahead. Is that true?"

Naruto nodded as he and Axis dodged each other's blades. "Of course."

"Looks like the next time we meet, I want to face you off with my Susanoo against your Ahead. For now, we'll fight while our forces fire on each other." Axis and Naruto kept on banging their GN Katanas at each other.

Meanwhile, the BuCUEs launched a barrage of missiles towards the other Enacts as they dodged them, but the missiles had hit the Anfs deployed by the Desert Dawn. Cagalli and a young male guerrilla fired their RPGs at the incoming BuCUEs, which had no effect on them. The Strike joined in the fight too, but one of the pilots climbed off the BuCUE, allowing Waltfeld to climb inside and engage Kira in a battle, preventing him from helping Naruto fight Axis. At the same time, Fon shot down all of the ZuOOTs that were targeting the other missile trucks.

"What in the world is that pilot of the samurai mobile suit thinking? Giving Naruto his own weapon to fight against him, that's suicide!" Fon turned around and shot down anothe BuCUE. "Kira, be careful!"

"We'll assume Formation Delta." Waltfeld led the lone BuCUE into the said formation as Fon and Kira fired their beam rifles to slow them down. Waltfeld's BuCUE kicked the Astrea into the Strike. "Even if you use missiles, the Phase Shift gradually loses power over time."

"Yeah, that only applies to that white machine. My machine on the other hand, is a different story," Fon replied back as he grabbed his GN Hammer and swung it around to block the missiles. "You should know my machine's capabilities already."

"Even so, I'll just have to take you out-" Waltfeld lunged towards the Astrea when a pink beam interrupted their match. Unfortunately, the stray beam shot had taken out the other BuCUE, leaving Waltfeld as the only combatant left. "Pink beams? No military has that kind of beam. It must be _them_."

Four Gundams descended into the desert and stopped the battle. Every combatant held back their fire as Naruto and Axis stopped fighting and turned to face their new opponents. Tieria and Regene quickly fired their beam weapons into the Lesseps as Leif faced off against Fon, not wanting to fight him at all despite the fact that Fon is currently fighting alongside the Archangel. Hixar scanned the desert for any incoming combatants as some missile trucks fired their payload towards him. The Dagonet simply fired its GN Vulcan guns to shoot the missiles down and fired the sniper rifle at the missile truck itself, exploding afterwards.

A squad of Desert Dawn Anfs charged slowly towards the Diabound as Leif came under fire with the missiles hitting his machine. Leif bounced arond the machine so much, he hit his head on the side, bringing in Beside Pain's persona as he grinned maliciously and aimed his beam rifle at the Anfs.

**"Sorry about this, Leif, but I need to borrow your body for a while,"** Beside said to Leif.

"It's not like I had any choice," Leif protested.

**"True."** Beside fired the beam rifle at the Anf as it exploded. The Lesseps fired its shells towards him as the Diabound simply dodged them and fired back. **"I haven't had so much fun since the time when you looked for the six comrades, Regene Regetta."**

"This is madness, Beside Pain. Why have you come again? It would have been a lot better if you had just stayed dead," Fon growled back and fired his beam rifle at the Diabound.

"Hold on! We're on the same side, aren't we?" Tieria asked Fon, but he banged his fist into the controls.

"You idiot! The pilot of the Diabound isn't Leif right now! Beside Pain has resurfaced again, and it's becoming quite annoying, really," Fon replied back. He saw the Strike aim his beam rifle at the Diabound, but Beside kicked it out of Kira's hands. "Kira, you fool! Get the hell out of there!"

**"Hehehe. You're too slow for a coordinator like you. How does it feel to have killed someone from your own race? Do you feel guilty that you have betrayed your own people just for the sake of a few Naturals? Tell me, little coordinator,"** Beside taunted.

"We can't radio in the Archangel to help us, or Celestial Being...no, Beside Pain would obliterate them and the Lesseps," Fon told himself. He suddenly spotted Axis firing the GN Chest Cannon into the Diabound as it blocked the shot with its GN Field. "You fool! You don't engage Beside Pain without knowing what he's really like!"

"I am not going to lose or die here!" Kira told himself as an amethyst seed burst. He picked up his rifle and fired it at the Diabound, but Beside grabbed his beam saber and knocked the beam rifle out of Kira's hands, forcing him to grab his own beam saber as well. "I'm fighting to protect my friends aboard that ship! How would you know about me fighting for the Earth Forces?"

**"You're asking me? An Innovade who can accumulate so much information a lot faster than even the most skilled coordinators? You're either foolish or reckless."** Beside and Kira clashed blades as Tieria turned to Fon and Naruto.

"What the hell are we supposed to do? It's not like you could ask me to go back to the Ptolemaios 3 and rejoin your group as the main Meister," Fon said. "Why did you and your squad intervene anyways?"

"We were under the impression that ZAFT was about to attack the village of Tassil, but arrived too late. Instead, we're facing the resistance fighters, Beside Pain's re-emergence and the Strike's pilot at the same time. What's going on, Fon Spaak?" Tieria replied back curiously, even as Beside and Kira fought each other despite the advantage the Innovade's advantage over the coordinator.

The Strike was kicked aside by the Diabound as Beside kicked up the sand, covering Kira's vision until he reappeared behind him, slicing the Strike's arm holding the shield. Kira retaliated by slashing at the Diabound, scarring the cockpit as Beside did the same. Both pilots could see each other through their ripped cockpit doors as they charged towards each other. Luckily, Hixar interrupted the match by firing his sniper rifle at the Diabound, but Beside blocked the shot and fired back.

"How could you fire back, Leif? We're your comrades! Damn you, Beside Pain," Hixar growled.

**"Hixar Fermi. Where's that little lolicon friend of yours? I can see that she's not here to save your worthless ass this time around,"** Beside taunted. He swung the beam saber and sliced the Strike's head as Kira tried to go back. **"You're not going anywhere!"**

"Kira, get the hell out of here! I'll take care of him." Fon turned to face the Innovade as Kira flew away from the battlefield. "I won't hold back, Beside. You need to be taught a lesson once and for all."

**"Fon Spaak, my old enemy. I dare you to try and teach me a lesson. In the end, I will be the one who will teach you a lesson,"** Beside spoke maliciously. Both the Astrea and the Diabound clashed at each other with their beam sabers.** "Tell me, Fon Spaak. how does it feel to fight against your own organization? You're just as guilty as that young boy I've fought just now!"**

"You mean Kira? Unlike you, I have my own reasons," Fon replied back. "I learned to interact with other people other than the Fereshte crew."

**"I see. In that case, prepare to die!"** Beside and Fon grabbed their beam rifles and fired it at each other. **"Your skills haven't dulled in two thousand years! I'm impressed."**

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," Fon spoke back. A minute later, Tieria and Regene fired their beam rifles as the Diabound's arm and leg were severed by the beam shots. "Yo, Tieria!"

"Beside Pain, you've obviously betrayed us. We can't allow you to roam free any longer!" Tieria grabbed his beam saber and went in for the kill when Beside switched personalities with Leif again.

"Tieria...I'm sorry," Leif whispered quietly.

"Leif? Are you back to your normal self again?" Tieria asked back, but Beside spoke back for Leif.

**"I could easily switch personalities whenever I am in danger, so my persona can survive while my body can't,"** Beside answered and switched back to Leif. "It's so painful. Beside Pain is a difficult guy for me to deal with."

"We need to retreat right away," Regene pointed at the incoming Desert Dawn reinforcements. The masked Gundams flew away from the desert, leaving the remaining mobile suits alone with the guerrillas.

* * *

**EARTH FORCES TRAINING BASE**

Naraku stood in front of the Earth Forces officers as they reviewed his performance assessment. Behind them stood a mobile suit that was acquired from the ruins of Heliopolis, which had a green colored scheme. The officer explained to Naraku about his new mission as a blond man with a business suit observed him.

"We've decided to assign you the rank of Ensign, Ensign Shimura. For now, you will be our designated test pilot of the new mobile suit that stands behind me," the officer explained.

"So what am I supposed to do then?" Naraku asked curiously.

"You'll be helping us with research and data collection in combat. We need this machine for our production of our first mobile suits that will be used by regular soldiers," he spoke back.

Naraku nodded. "So this machine would eventually be upgraded over time?"

"Possible. However, due to the N-Jammers that are dug beneath the Earth, it's impossible for us to install a nuclear reactor into that machine. Moreover, this machine that you will be assigned to originally came from Heliopolis, so I suggest that you don't get into combat right away." the blond man in a business suit answered. He offered his hand for Naraku to shake. "I'm Murata Azrael, and I'll be your boss for your mission. Since you're the test pilot, you're assigned to the Research and Development department."

"That sounds good, Mr. Azrael. Hopefully, I can upgrade the Green Frame for my personal use." Naraku gazed at the Green Frame as its beam rifle was held in its hands. "So when can I get started?"

"In a few days. In the meanwhile, you'll have to go back to your training regimen." Azrael pointed to the door, indicating to Naraku that he's free to go. Once Naraku was gone, Azrael turned to the officers and clapped his hands. "I daresay that you've found your perfect test subject."

"Would we have to induct him into the Combat Coordinator program?" a second officer wondered.

"No way! With a guy like Naraku as our ace in the hole, screwing him up would be a collosal waste of time. I would suggest that you all treat him decently, or there will be consequences," Azrael warned as he walked away.

* * *

**BANADIYA**

Naruto and his Serpent Tail friends arrived at Banadiya along with Kira and Cagalli. Sakura kept on glancing at Naruto's choice of clothes as she felt that he stood out among the locals. Sahib and another guerrilla wondered if his taste of fashion was decent or horrible as Naruto resembled a _peshmerga_ in traditional Kurdish clothes. He also wore a turban that covered his hair, blending in with the local population.

"Your new clothes are worse than that orange jumpsuit you've been wearing," Sakura whispered to him.

"This is the only clothes that I could get on my salary, Sakura. Don't forget that we're often away fighting on the battlefield, so we couldn't go shopping for new clothes. Besides, the cloth on your head looks beautiful," Naruto replied back. Sakura blushed when he complemented her on the _hijab_, as the locals called the cloth on the head. He saw Hotaru with the same kind of cloth on her head too.

"I'm not sure if this is a right fit for me," Hotaru admitted. Murakumo placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Believe me, it's perfect. We're supposed to blend in with the locals, so we should also follow their dress code as well," Murakumo told her as he wore a pair of sunglasses. "We're ready when you are, Naruto."

"Right."

"Looks like Natarle is blushing," Murakumo said, pointing at her face. "I wonder why she was blushing."

"I don't know. Must be a woman's intuition if you ask me," Naruto told him as they walked alongside Cagalli and Kira. "So this is what they mean by 'the lair of the beast'."

"Anyone who opposes ZAFT's rule are dealt with. Though I'm not sure how they deal with civilians on a personal level, but I'm sure that they employed ruthless tactics like what that woman from the ZAFT forces did towards the people of Tassil." Cagalli showed them a crater that was caused by an explosion.

Cagalli and Kira took care of the groceries while Sakura and Murakumo went over to the marketplace to buy some of their own groceries for the Desert Dawn. Naruto and Hotaru waited for the others to finish with their shopping so they could have a bite to eat.

"We've managed to get what we needed, but that Flay girl's request is so ridiculous," Cagalli said as Kira placed the grocery bags into the ground. Sakura and Murakumo joined them a minute later as they also dropped their bags on the ground. "Sounds to me that you two also bought a lot of stuff."

"Yeah, and we've managed to deliver a letter of request to that Al Jairi fellow for weapons and ammunition through Kisaka. In exchange for the ammo, we agreed to sell to Al Jairi three Enacts and ten Hellions for his business. He'll then deliver those to the guerrillas in the Oceania Union," Murakumo replied back. A waiter arrived as they requested their order. "What about you, Naruto? What did you do?"

"Nothing much except shopping for some clothes and souvenirs. This is the only time when we could shop for those things when we're often fighting," Naruto said as he pointed at the bags full of clothes. "Also, we are stopping by Krugis after we defeat the Desert Tiger for weapons deliveries."

"What are these?" Kira looked at the tray of food that was sent to him.

"These are donair kebabs. What did you guys order?" Cagalli said.

Naruto grinned. "Chicken curry and rice."

"I've got to try those some other time. For the kebabs, we add some chili sauce-" Cagalli started, but a man interrupted them.

"Hold it. Putting chili on kebabs is a crime against nature. You put the yogurt sauce first. Am I right?" the man replied back in a curious tone.

"Who invited you to debate on kebabs anyways?" Cagalli squirted some chili sauce on the kebabs. She took a bite of the kebab and chewed it. "This is delicious, don't you think?"

"Come to think of it, would you consider putting yogurt sauce on a curry?" Murakumo asked politely.

Sakura smiled. "You never know until you try."

Both Cagalli and the stranger squirted the sauces on Kira's kebabs. Hotaru was curious at why they were arguing over a mere sauce, but she knew well to keep her opinions to herself in front of someone who claims to know about such dish. The stranger noticed a lot of bags that are on the ground as Sakura began to eat her own donair kebab.

"Look at that! You guys must have done a lot of shopping today." the stranger noticed someone fire an RPG. "Hit the dirt!"

"Go back to space, you filthy coordinator!" one gunman shouted.

"For the perservation of our blue and pure world!"

"So these are the Blue Cosmos thugs that you guys often talked about. I'll go and see if I can distract them." Naruto and Sakura ran inside the building and entered the rooftop as the gunmen started to fire their weapons on them, but Naruto kicked one of the gunmen in the chin. "Behind you, Sakura!"

"Take this!" Sakura punched the other gunman as he recoiled from the sheer strength of her punches. "Kira! Look out!"

Kira noticed the gun that was dropped from a dead gunman and picked it up. He threw it at the gunman attempting to shoot Waltfeld and kicked him in the chin as well. Murakumo and Hotaru threw a grenade in the open, exploding once it came into contact with the remaining gunmen. It was then that the stranger took off his disguise and revealed himself to the entire group.

"All this time we were talking with the Desert Tiger?" Cagalli wondered.

"Why don't you all come with me and get you cleaned up? It's obvious that you wouldn't go back home, looking like you've made a mess in a restaurant now, can't you?" Waltfeld saw the ZAFT jeep arrive as they entered inside. "That's the spirit."

"Is this the girl that you were talking about?" a blue haired woman noticed them arrive at the ZAFT headquarters.

"Yep, one of them had chili and yogurt sauce, and even some tea spilled onto her," Waltfeld told his girlfriend. Cagalli was led away by the woman called Aisha as Waltfeld beckoned for the remaining group members to sit in the lounge. Kira noticed a picture of a fossilized whale. "Interesting picture, huh?"

"A whale? but it has wings, and whales don't fly either," Naruto commented.

Waltfeld nodded. "True. Anyways, this is Evidence 01. Do you ever see one of those fossils on Earth?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Kira answered back.

"The point is that why do we assume that fossil is that of a whale?" Waltfeld sipped his coffee. "On to a more pressing matter, what do you think of this coffee?"

Sakura sipped her coffee and shuddered. "I don't know what kind of coffee am I drinking. I normally drink tea, to be honest."

"Perhaps you've never drank coffee before, young lady. Eventually, you will acquire an appreciation for such a taste," Waltfeld replied back.

"There's also a downside to this discovery. We can safely say that the discovery of this whale is the source of all conflicts. Moreover, humans have the capability to go much further than their limits. I've heard of old stories where humans evolve into something else. A development in spatial and situational awareness, enhanced quantum brainwaves, an increase in body strength through the cellular changes. All of this sounds like they've already created a coordinator. However, it isn't a coordinator that can possess this kind of enhancement," Waltfeld explained. He grabbed a book and skimmed through the pages. "Even before this war had started, there were already animosities between Naturals and the superhumans called Innovators. Sounds to me that even coordinators would die to have the same kind of enhancement as those Innovators."

"Oh, Andy." Aisha knocked on the door. Waltfeld told her to come in as she and Cagalli entered into the lounge. Kira stared at her dumbfoundedly while Murakumo and Naruto looked at her skeptically.

"A girl..."

"What did you say?" Cagalli asked back.

"It's just to remind me again that you're a girl," Kira answered back, but he wasn't helping his own case.

"It's the same thing, jackass!" she snapped.

"I could hardly imagine a woman who hates beautiful dresses and likes to wear something adventurous," Hotaru commented at the way Cagalli wore the dress. "I'm not sure if it suits you."

"Well, I wouldn't either." Cagalli glared at Kira.

"It appears that you've grown accustomed to wearing such fine clothing." Waltfeld turned to the Serpent Tail members and gazed at their clothing. "I'm not sure if those clothes suit you. Those clothes make you look like you came from the mountains. A wild bunch of tough warriors who fought for a homeland. Or perhaps that your ancestor came from such place." He turned to Naruto. "Isn't that right, young man?"

"Well, I learned from an unknown source that my ancestor has fought a battle against the old Azadistani forces as a member of the KPSA," Naruto admitted, though he was careful not to divulge any more details than he would normally want to. "Is this one of your hobbies, Mr. Waltfeld?"

"What do you mean, my hobbies?" Waltfeld asked back.

"Take for example, you've given a warning to the people of Tassil to leave before you burned it to the ground. Yet I'm not sure if you've allowed someone like that Aker woman to launch a massacre, just to lure me out into the open," Naruto explained. Waltfeld didn't like where this discussion was going, but luckily Axis entered the room and gasped at the sight of the visitors.

"I'm back, Commander and-" Axis gasped. "Who are they?"

"I found these guys in the kebab restaurant, Axis. Perhaps you've met the blond man with the set of whiskers before." Waltfeld pointed at Naruto as Alex and her team entered the room as well.

"Him? He looks similar to our ancestor, Graham Aker. Only Graham had green eyes and the blond fellow over there has blue eyes," Alex told him. She and Axis turned towards Naruto and stared at him. "So we meet at last, face to face. Naruto, isn't it? Too bad you're our enemy. I would have loved to fight alongside such a fine man."

"Don't patronize me, Ms. Aker. I've already fought your brother the last time, and he's got more guts than you'll ever had," Naruto snapped back. Alex laughed amusingly as Axis scoffed back.

"You're right, but don't think that we'll be facing each other for the last time. What do you think that needs to be done in order to end this war?" Axis asked curiously. Waltfeld grabbed a pistol from a box and pointed it at Kira and Cagalli. "Commander-"

"I'd advise you not to do anything stupid, even if you have the berserker capabilities. You're all in a room full of coordinators, after all." Waltfeld turned to Kira and asked. "As for you, fellow mobile suit pilot of the Earth Forces machine, I'm not sure what your reasons are, but I'm impressed with the way you've adjusted to the battlefield conditions in just a short amount of time. Moreover, I have no idea what your reasons are for fighting against your own people, since I am a coordinator too."

Axis and Alex gasped at the revelation Waltfeld had revealed. "You mean, that brown haired kid is-"

"-the guy Athrun Zala was friends with since they were kids?" Axis faced Kira and glared at him. "What gave you an idea to turn your own against us? Are you a traitor or something?"

"I was just-" Kira began, but Axis finished his sentence.

"-'protecting my friends' aboard that white warship? If rumors of a coordinator fighting for the Earth Forces spread into the heart of the PLANTs, there would be an uproar. In addition, there are some coordinators whose closed family members or friends you've personally killed." he said.

"I'm not sure if there is an option for one of us to be destroyed." Waltfeld put the gun away and escorted the entire group outside. He looked at the Serpent Tail pilots and gave them a nod. "As for you members of the Serpent Tail, I'm impressed to see you fight in such an antiquated machine. Perhaps I should grant Axis Aker's request to give you a sword to fight with, pilot of the solar powered mobile suit."

Naruto spoke back firmly. "I've only fought against people who are after my life, or the lives of my comrades."

"Well said, Naruto. The next time we meet will be on the battlefield. Until then, I suggest that you prepare yourself," Axis advised Naruto as the Serpent Tail group came along with Cagalli and Kira.

* * *

**GIBRALTAR**

**ONE HOUR LATER**

* * *

"Before Operation Spitbreak will commence, we have another operation to launch. Think of this as a rehearsal for the real operation that will be launched in a few months' time," Rau Le Creuset was briefing all of the Gibraltar ZAFT commanders. Waltfeld was also included in the online briefing as well. "Our real targets are the legged ship and Celestial Being's Gundams."

Waltfeld didn't like where this was going. To him, Le Creuset was just as bad as Alex in terms of brutality, if not worse. Unlike Alex and Axis, Le Creuset was probably the only ZAFT commander with the guts to obliterate a neutral colony without any remorse at all. It can easily be assumed that Axis acted more like Waltfeld, and it's the same thing with Alex acting more like Le Creuset.

"You've failed to destroy the Earth Forces warship, so why are you including all of the garrison troops in this operation?" Waltfeld asked Le Creuset sarcastically.

"Commander Waltfeld, Celestial Being is far more dangerous as a foe than the legged ship. If we lure in the legged ship while Celestial Being's masked mobile suits are under attack from our forces, then we'd have a chance in eliminating the twin threats of the Earth Forces warship and a global armed interventionist organization," Le Creuset answered back. "For this mission, I will send Athrun Zala and Nicol Amalfi to join in with Yzak, Dearka and Axis."

Waltfeld sighed. "So who are you going to appoint as squad commander of those kids with the stolen Earth Forces mobile suits?"

"Normally, I'd assign Athrun for the job. Axis Aker is still a ZAFT Red Coat until as of today. He's been promoted to White Coat status, and he's also been selected as the commander of the squad that was formally under my control. It looks like Chairman Zala wants to get to know young Axis Aker and see if he can influence him," Le Creuset said. "As for Celestial Being's mobile suits, we would be foolish not to capture those machines. We will capture them and use it for our own ends."

"As if stealing the Earth Forces' mobile suits wasn't enough for you, you'd want to steal another set of mobile suits as well? Are we that desperate to become mobile suit thieves?" Waltfeld asked as his voice started to rise with agitation.

"We need the advantages we can get if we are to win this war. Whether it's fair or foul play, we'll make sure that we come out victorious. You did say that there are no rules in war," the masked commander reminded his Earthbound counterpart.

"I did say that there are no rules in war, but that doesn't mean you should take it literally and seriously to your advantage. Anyways, we'll continue this briefing tomorrow. I'm sure the Defense Committee would approve of this mission. After all, they're also facing the receiving end of the particle interference." Waltfeld went offline as the Gibraltar commanders turned off the cam after Le Creuset saluted to them.

* * *

To be continued...

All right, you may have noticed that I've finally started the R2 Masked Castaway fic once again. After a very long delay due on a certain author's part, it's finally published. Now that I've started to improve a bit on my fic writing thanks to my new creative writing class, I might tackle the pure Narutox00 fic once again and see if I could fix it. Or combine both Masked Castaway and Rising Angel's elements into one new fic. After Dimensional Innovation is complete, I will have to delete the Shippuden Next series. Possibly including Bleach SEED because I admit that it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be.

Also, Infinite Stratalia will be continued despite the fact that there are only twelve Infinite Stratos episodes. I am totally stuck on what IS should Ivan/Russia get since the IS units are practically based on the Gundams. I may go nuts and even adopt one abandoned or bad fic from another author and probably fix it.

So likewise, give me suggestions on possible names of Gundams for me to take. I've decided that the name Shinkiro will be reserved for the Masked Castaway fic only, so I am in need of new names.


	15. Desert Siege

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Fifteen: Desert Siege**_

Athrun drove along the road as a bouquet of flowers were laid on the seat beside him. Today was the only day he'd have a time off with Lacus as he will be deployed back into the front lines sometime soon. As soon as he arrived at the Clyne residence, he parked his car in the front and waited for Lacus to appear as a horde of Haros rushed towards their creator in jubilation.

A butler opened the door as Athrun went inside the house, looking for her. He gave her the flowers once she went out of her room while the Haros happily bounced around them. Athrun and Lacus walked into a garden where the Haros would play tag with one of the Haros painted with a mustache.

"I apologize for not being able to attend the memorial service." Athrun took the coffee that Lacus poured for him.

"That's all right. I prayed for your mother on your behalf, and I was wondering if that's okay with you," she replied back.

"I'm grateful for that, Lacus," Athrun thanked her.

"When I heard about your presence in the PLANTs, I thought I might be able to see you once again. Would you be able to have some more time off?" Lacus asked curiously.

Athrun gazed over towards the flowers. "I'm not sure about my time off since the military never gave me a set time."

"I understand. There's an increase in people joining the military recently, and even my closest friends have joined." Lacus finished her coffee. "I wonder what are my Serpent Tail friends up to these days? I've never heard from Mr. Uzumaki or Mr. Yamato since the incident back in the white warship."

"Well, from what Axis told me, he'd just finished fighting Naruto in the desert. His sister was punished for killing unarmed civilians, so he was called up on an emergency basis. To make matters worse, there might be another operation before the planned offensive sometime soon, and they're going to target Celestial Being's masked mobile suits," Athrun admitted. "So there might be a chance where I may end up fighting both Celestial Being and the Serpent Tail. On top of that, the Serpent Tail has found Goud Veia's GINN and brought it back to their _Laurasia_ warship. I recalled that Commander Veia loved to hear you sing."

"Well, I'm sure you and Mr. Yamato have met again since then." Lacus broke a piece of the cookie and fed some to the birds.

"Kira and I were friends since we were kids, and lived on the Moon together. When the war broke out, I obeyed my father's orders to return to the PLANTs. I hoped that Kira would eventually join me later on, but instead I found him in Heliopolis," Athrun answered back sadly. "Moreover, my family was nearly attacked by those metallic shapeshifting creatures and I was nearly assimilated if it didn't hesitate."

"I remember Mr. Uzumaki saying the same thing. I sensed a lot of loneliness inside him when we spoke to each other. The things he'd made me do, like testing me if I have the resolve to pick up a gun or to plunge a knife into my own stomach," Lacus explained as Athrun became incensed by her explanation.

"How could he do this?" Athun asked curiously and angrily. "What was he thinking, telling you to kill yourself?"

"Mr. Uzumaki told me that he learned to kill someone at a very young age. He's raised to be a tool of war with no mercy, and I was afraid I might die at his hands if it wasn't for his restraint," Lacus continued. Athrun placed his hand on her shoulder and patted it as she continued to explain. "I'm not sure if I shoudl be quite fond of him, though I wished he didn't have to undergo such a horrible childhood."

"Naruto? He's like an enigma if you ask me. I'm surprised he refused to join Celestial Being after meeting those guys. Normally, someone who has met Celestial Being's members would be killed to cover up their existence, but it seems to me that they're still waiting for us to accept their offer. No child should ever have to be denied of a happy life," Athrun replied back. He watched the bird fly away after it finished eating some of Lacus's cookies. "I will ask him why he did this to you. It isn't right."

"He also said something like _'failing to understand reality is like an inadvertent malice'._ The way he said it , he may be supporting your father's ideals. I guess your father's a lot more honest in painting a realistic picture. The Akers are initially supportive of us, but Axis prefers to side with Defense Chairman Zala." Athrun and Lacus gazed over at the artificial lake and watched the animals play around in the water. Just then, the butler approached Athrun as he gave him a note.

"Won't you stay over for dinner?" Lacus asked. "I understand if you can't stay."

"It's about the operation that will be carried out tomorrow. It's not Spit Break, but it's an A-Class Restricted Mission," Athrun replied back. He went out of the door, but not before he kissed Lacus in the cheek. "I'll see you soon, Lacus."

Athrun drove quickly back to the ZAFT military base where the Vesalius was docked. He spotted Nicol and entered the ship together as Le Creuset led them into the bridge and started the briefing. Numerous ship crew members gathered around the table as Le Creuset began to debrief them on the upcoming mission. A holographic image appeared on the table, as it showed a small scale version of the African desert, and where Celestial Being would land.

"Our mission here is just a dress rehearsal for Spit Break, but we have two purposes for this mission." Le Creuset next showed the ZAFT Red Coat soldiers the images of the masked Gundams. "First and foremost, we must use our conventional forces to capture Celestial Being's mobile suits. Second of all, we must destroy the legged ship and the PMC Trust mobile suits that might intervene in our mission."

"So which masked mobile suit are we going to capture?" Nicol wondered.

Le Creuset smiled and showed them the four mobile suits on the screen, starting with the Diabound. "These are all the machines that we'll capture. Each of them have a similar role to the G-Weapons we captured from the Earth Forces. Luckily, one of your teammates has been promoted to White Coat status, so he will be your new squad leader as I have to be at the homeland to prepare for the real Spit Break."

"So it must be Axis then," Athrun guessed. Le Creuset nodded and continued to explain.

"His new machine has been modified to cope with the Earth's gravity. Don't forget that his twin sister will also participate in this mission too, although she and her team was punished for an isolated incident in Tassil," the masked man replied back. "You and Nicol will join Axis, Yzak and Dearka on Earth while we are entering Phase Two, and by then, Celestial Being's mobile suits will be isolated, making it vulnerable to capture."

"What would we do with the red colored solar powered mobile suit?" Athrun asked back. "They called it the Ahead Smultron."

Le Creuset frowned. "I'm sure Axis or Alex Aker can take care of that machine. Any other questions?" No one asked any more questions. "Dismissed!"

* * *

**LESSEPS WARSHIP**

Axis and the other ZAFT soldiers watched Zala's speech on the television and couldn't help but feel satisfied that he supports the idea of escalating the conflict in order to send a message to the Earth Forces. At the same time, Yzak and Dearka talked to him over the cam as Waltfeld and DaCosta stood outside the room, waiting for him to finish up so they can start planning for their roles in this upcoming dress rehearsal.

Just outside in the desert, the ZuOOTs began to roll out of the ZAFT land battleships, taking up their defensive positions as the BuCUEs haven't launched yet. A squad of ZAFT helicopters hovered over the land battleships as they began to take off and began scouting for ideal ambush sites.

"He has a point. Athrun's father is the man I can happily serve if he was elected as leader of the PLANTs," Axis commented.

"I heard about an upcoming operation. Actually, two operations to be exact," Dearka started to talk. "So I guess that this operation is one of them."

Yzak nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's just a rehearsal for the real operation, though I'm glad that we've been given an opportunity to capture those machines with a solar furnace. If ZAFT could mass produce those things, then we won't have to worry about the Earth Forces at all."

"The rehearsal for Spit Break would be located in the African Community. That is where I am located right now. If I know about the nature of this operation, it would be that the legged ship will entangle itself into this mess along with Celestial Being. Athrun and Nicol would eventually join us and the team will be under my control." Axis pointed at the new White Coat uniform he's wearing. "Looks good on me, isn't it?"

"Well, you've been a soldier much longer than we have," Dearka admitted. He chuckled lightly to brighten up the situation. "We can't complain about it at all. If Athrun was promoted before the rest of us, then we'd have a good reason to complain."

"Yeah, because Defense Chairman Zala is his father. I'm positive that whatever plan Zala has come up with, we'd taken the advantage by then. It would be impudent for us to let it go," Axis replied back, but an alarm rang in the background.

"Gundams detected! It appeard that they're heading for the mines the Desert Dawn is after!" one of the CICs announced over the comm.

Axis sighed and smiled back. "I'd better go now. Join us later on when the battle gets intense."

"How did it go with the Gibraltar command, Axis?" Waltfeld asked Axis once he went out of the room.

"Pretty good. Is the operation starting already?" Axis asked back.

"It appears so. You'd better get out and sortie. I'll notify the other Aker sibling and tell her to sortie as well. She has served her sentence long enough, so she'll be joining us. Besides, there is a custom CGUE that is delivered to her. I believe it's the CGUE DEEP Arms version." Waltfeld saluted to Axis. "You'd better be careful."

Waltfeld entered his quarters after Axis went down into the hangar to suit up for his sortie as he looked over at the folders that contained which machines he's receiving and what machines he couldn't get.

"They're sending us ZuOOTs? Why couldn't they send us some more BuCUEs?" Waltfeld asked back.

"I think they're doing a favor by sending two mobile suits that were captured from the Earth Alliance," DaCosta replied back. "They are now under Axis Aker's command now."

"I still don't feel comfortable that Le Creuset's team is being sent here to fight alongside us against both the Archangel and Celestial Being's mobile suits," Waltfeld said. He and DaCosta disembarked from the Lesseps and spotted Yzak and Dearka as they struggled to walk through the sandstorm while Axis had already launched in the Susanoo. "They say that you can't get used to the desert until you've lived here. Welcome to the Lesseps."

"We are serving under you and Commander Axis Aker," Yzak reminded the Desert Tiger. Waltfeld looked over at his face as Yzak turned away.

"When one has a scar on his face, I assume that means he's got a commitment. However, if the person with a scar turns away when he sees it, it means that he's suffered a humiliation at the hands of his opponent," the Tiger said sagely.

"Sir, we've spotted the masked mobile suits from Celestial Being. They've already taken out the recon team along with the Desert Dawn's guerrilla squad!" one officer reported.

"Then it's time we launch our attack."

In the Desert Dawn resistance cells, three Anfs were taking off from their base as Sahib issued instructions to all guerrillas to start the operation. The Archangel's officers quickly drove back to their ship to implement their strategy to break past the Lesseps and to finally head towards the Red Sea. At the same time, the Dagonet and the Tristan flew over the African airspace and found the Anfs attacking the mine site as two ZAFT ZuOOTs fired back with their missiles. Once the ZAFT ZuOOTs and the Desert Dawn jeeps were obliterated, the Lesseps and two unknown other land warships fired their cannons towards them.

"Naruto will be joining us with the repaired Ahead, so wait for him to show up," Murakumo ordered as the PMC mercenaries took off in their Enacts and Flags. "It's a good thing the PMC has purchased the Flags from the Union even before the Earth Alliance came to existence, so use them wisely."

"Roger that, Lieutenant Murakumo."

"We're going out!" Naruto appeared in his Ahead as he joined Murakumo. Sakura, Hotaru and Elijah followed suit. "Today's the day we take down the tiger!"

"I see the Dagonet and the Tristan under attack by the enemy. The Archangel's launching the Strike and the Astrea to join us," Sakura told him once the ZAFT barrage began against Celestial Being's Gundams. "All forces, open fire on the enemy warship!"

"The PMC Trust...and the Archangel too? Thank goodness they've arrived on the scene," Hixar said gratefully. "It seems that they've lured us into a trap."

"No kidding," Regene commented.

Hixar noticed a barrage of bullets and missiles launched towards them. They only managed to use their beam weapons to shoot some of the missiles down, but the ZAFT land warships kept on pounding them with more firepower. The Dagonet and Tristan landed at the sand and endured the barrage of missiles and bullets until the Ahead fired its beam rifle to interrupt the siege. One of the land battleships opened fire towards the PMC squad, forcing Naruto to block the missiles and bullets. Sakura and Hotaru managed to drop their bombs into the Henry Carter, but the bombs hardly had any effect on them.

The Strike and one Skygrasper launched from the Archangel's catapult and joined in the battle, but Kira had to dodge the missiles wildly as the ZAFT land battleship continued to fire their guns. Fon joined them in the Astrea a minute later, this time it had the GN Hammer in the waist. He swung the GN Hammer towards the missiles as he destroyed them all. Fortunately, Tieria arrived in the Hermos as his GN Bazooka shot obliterated some of the GINN Ochers that have descended on him.

"I've made it in time. How are you two holding up?" Tieria asked Regene and Hixar.

"Pretty bad. The enemy's increasing in numbers," Regene spoke back.

"Incoming BuCUEs! They number around four or even five of them!" Hixar grunted. He fired his sniper rifle at a GINN Ocher and shot it down. Regene fired his GN Beam rifle at a squad of DINNs, but missed the targets. "Tieria, where the hell is Leif?"

"He's not joining us. Beside Pain's a liability to our organization, but attaching an explosive necklace on his neck would be useless since he can just grab a new body and upload his personality into it." Tieria fired the shoulder cannons as the Hermos faced off against the BuCUEs. Two BuCUEs armed with plasma cannons fired at the masked Gundam, point blank. "You two better go towards Naruto and Fon. They could help you two survive this siege."

Fon showed up, swinging the GN Hammer towards a ZuOOT. "Erde boy! Don't tell me you're about to end up tired, just like in the Taklamakan Desert!"

"Fon Spaak, this is even worse than Taklamakan Desert! We're about to get destroyed if we don't do something!" Tieria snapped. He spotted the Strike dodging the missiles as Kira shot his beam rifle at a BuCUE. "Can you hear me, mobile suit pilot?"

Kira turned his attention towards the Hermos and spoke back. "This is Ensign Kira Yamato, pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike. What can I do for you, Celestial Being's Gundam pilot?"

"Mr. Yamato, we'll need your assistance. Your ship is also a target of the ZAFT operation besides us. We'll coordinate our strategies with your captain, if possible. Coupld you please patch me through to your captain?" Tieria requested.

Kira pressed a button as Murrue's face appeared on the screen. "Ms. Murrue, I've got a pilot from Celestial Being who wants to talk to you."

"Celestial Being? What do they want?" Murrue turned her attention to Tieria's presence as the Hermos rejoined the Archangel along with the Dagonet and the Tristan. "I'm not really comfortable talking to a bunch of armed interventionists-"

"If you would listen to us, then you'll be shocked to learn that we're all ZAFT's targets. They've implemented a rehearsal operation disguised as an operation against your ship. If we can coordinate our targets together, then we can defeat them at the same time. This is the only time we can actually work together," Tieria interrupted her.

Natarle also felt uneasy with Celestial Being's presence, but became enlightened by the idea of an additional help from those guys. "Captain Ramius, the Desert Dawn forces can't defeat an entire ZAFT army, not with the-"

"We've got an incoming! It's the Duel and the Buster!" Arnold Newmann announced. Everyone was shocked to hear that the stolen mobile suits had showed up. "Captain!"

Murrue turned her attention back to Tieria. "All right, but on one condition."

"Name it," Tieria replied back.

"You'll have to follow my orders," Murrue insisted.

"Roger that," Regene answered back on behalf of his fellow Meisters. "What strategy do you have for us, Captain?"

"We're reaching an abandoned mine, so we should lure ZAFT over there," she spoke back.

Natarle objected to her suggestion. "Captain, if we get hit while we get stuck in that mine, then we'll get destroyed."

"What choice do we have?" Murrue replied back, now growing impatient with her second in command. Suddenly, Kira interrupted their conversation. "Kira? What's the matter?"

"I don't know if I'm hallucinating, but I'm seeing seven orbital pods descending down here." Kira showed the crew the images of the orbital drop. He also showed them the image of the Aegis and the Blitz. "They're also here too."

"Unbelievable! And to think that they're deploying those machines just to capture the masked mobile suits?" Murrue replied back aghastly. "Kira, you are to follow my instructions. You'll have to assume a formation with Celestial Being's Gundams. This also goes for the PMC Trust, Desert Dawn and our own forces too. Cooperate with Celestial Being in defeating ZAFT, but we'll do this only one time."

"Roger that."

The Archangel led the Strike, Astrea, the Skygrasper, the PMC mobile suits and Celestial Being's Gundams into an abandoned mine as the Lesseps fired its guns from behind. Just as Murrue had predicted, the addition of the Lesseps to the latest ZAFT siege on the masked mobile suits had succeeded in splitting the mobile suits into two groups. Obviously, the masked Gundams were separated and isolated on one side while the non-Celestial Being mobile suits landed in the mine.

Kira and Fon used their melee weapons to take out the BuCUEs armed with the missile pod while Naruto's squad engaged Alex's team in a dogfight. The CGUE Deep Arms fired the beam rifle at the Ahead as it placed its shield to block the shots. Naruto took aim at one of the GINNs Alex's team had piloted and fired, but the GINN blocked the shot. Alex joined in the fight as she kept on firing the beam rifle at the Ahead, while Axis observed the battle from atop the Lesseps. The Aegis and the Blitz landed on top of the land battleship as they joined in the battle and fired some potshots towards the Ahead.

"This is really intense! If we don't break out of this trap, we'll never survive the siege!" Naruto kept on firing his beam rifle. "That CGUE's really beginning to bug me."

Alex grabbed her beam saber and slammed it at the Ahead's shield. "It was so disappointing for me to hear that you've engaged Axis in combat. If I engaged you that day, I would have killed you instantly."

"I should have said the same damn thing," Naruto retorted. He grabbed his beam saber and clashed blades with Alex's own beam saber. "You've got one too? Now I'm starting to get pissed off."

"You and your little squad are in our way. We were supposed to capture the masked mobile suits and destroy the legged ship as well, but if you insist on interfering with us, then I'll have no choice but to kill you," Alex replied back. She saw her teammates approach the Ahead. "Do it!"

"Shoot!" Naruto cursed as he found himself surrounded by three GINNs that belonged to her team. "A little help here."

Luckily, a beam rifle shot had disabled one of the GINN's left arm as Naruto turned his attention to the GINN behind him and kicked it aside. Murakumo and Elijah fired their rifles at the Aker team, forcing Alex to put her shield up as she and Naruto kept on clashing blades at each other. Just as Alex was about to deliver a finishing blow, a pink colored beam shot forced her to engage the incoming Dagonet, even as Hixar, Regene and Tieria endured the siege a bit longer, though they began to show some signs of fatigue.

"At least give us a break to eat or something," Hixar pleaded, to no avail.

"This is gonna take forever," Tieria grunted. He continued to recharge his GN Particles and waited until he could have a clear shot at the swarming GINNs and CGUEs. "Regene, clear us a path!"

"No can do, Tieria. ZAFT's split our forces into two groups!" Regene answered back. The Tristan transformed into the mobile armor mode and dropped some bombs into the _Henry Carter_, obliterating the land battleship. "That's one land battleship sunk! We've got two more!"

"Hold on a sec, I've got an incoming transmission." Hixar spotted Fon's face on the screen. "What seems to be the problem, Fon?"

"DINNs at two o'clock! Accompanying those guys is the Susanoo, Duel, Buster, Aegis and Blitz! They're gonna go for Naruto's squad first!" Fon reported. He pointed at the Aegis and Blitz as they descended upon Naruto's Ahead. "Not on my watch, you don't!"

Athrun activated the beam saber on the Aegis's wrist and clashed blades with the Astrea before the Hermos intervened with the GN Shoulder Cannon. The Aegis fired its beam rifle at the Hermos, but Tieria responded by firing his GN Bazooka. Nicol used the Glenipir anchor to take away the GN Bazooka out of the Hermos's hands and launched its Lancer Darts towards him. Fon fired his beam rifle to help Tieria out, but Nicol blocked the shots.

"Athrun, I'll take this guy on. You go on and take the fat machine," Nicol suggested.

"Nicol, Yzak's dealing with the sniper unit and Dearka's fighting the winged machine. You'd better capture that machine soon," Athrun warned as he and Tieria clashed blades. The Aegis fired the Scylla cannon while the Hermos used its GN Field to block the shot.

"I won't let you get your hands on this Gundam!" Tieria shouted.

"And I won't let you kill any more people without any reason at all!" Athrun snapped back. "If we can't capture you, we might as well eliminate you! I swear on my honor as a ZAFT soldier, I will defeat you!"

Tieria smirked and laughed lightly. "I'm surprised you're as defiant as ever, Athrun Zala. You could have used your own power to do something good."

"I have the power to stop you and your group from indiscriminately killing innocent people, especially those soldiers who haven't done anything wrong!" Athrun kicked the Hermos aside and threw its shield. He fired his beam rifle at his own shield, redirecting the shot towards the Hermos as it destroyed one of the shoulder cannons. "Great! I've taken out one of its cannons!"

"That doesn't matter!" Tieria said confidentally, but Nicol kicked the GN Bazooka away, out of Tieria's reach. "Regene, Hixar! A little help here!"

Regene was busy dodging Yzak's beam shots fired from the Lesseps's deck. Despite Dearka's warnings not to enter the sand, Yzak stubbornly joined in the battle and found himself struggling to walk in the sand. Axis noticed his teammate's problem and flew beside him and gave instructions.

"Yzak, I want you to adjust your mobile suit to adapt to the conditions in the desert. Then, adjust your beam rifle's intensity to cope with the heat convections," Axis instructed. He then contacted Dearka, Nicol and Athrun and gave them the same instructions. "As acting ZAFT commander in place of Commander Le Creuset, I'm ordering you four to adjust your machine's OS to adapt to the desert conditions."

Dearka, Athrun and Nicol adjusted their machines as Axis had ordered. Suddenly, their machines started to move better in the sand, enabling them to join their new squad leader in taking on Celestial Being's mobile suits. Fon and Naruto stepped in to block their advance, but the four other stolen mobile suits fired their beam rifles to distract the two newcomers from aiding their comrades. Axis spotted Naruto's Ahead being tailed by Alex and intervened by clashing blades with the Ahead.

"I've been expecting this kind of fight, Naruto. Where were we the last time we fought each other?" Axis asked Naruto.

"You again." Naruto glared back at the Susanoo. "Are you here to capture the Gundams again?"

"You've guessed right, but I'm going to let my new subordinates do the capturing while I settle things with you." Axis pointed the GN Katana at the Ahead. Naruto grabbed two GN Beam Sabers and put the GN Beam Rifle away. "Good, now let's resume our duel."

Alex gritted her teeth and slammed her fists into the controls. "You just had to screw this up, didn't you?"

Axis ignored her and swung his GN Katanas into Naruto's GN Beam Sabers while Athrun led his teammates in confronting Kira and the PMC Trust mobile suits. Kira fired at Athrun as he dodged the beam shots. Fon helped Regene and Hixar fight off against the Duel, Buster and Blitz as the Astrea swung the GN Hammer at the Duel, forcing Yzak to put up his shield to block the hammer.

"What kind of weapon is that? It looks barbaric!" Yzak grabbed his beam saber and swung it at Fon.

"So that machine's upgraded to include that gun on its shoulder. But what's its weakness, I wonder," Fon told himself as he kept on dodging Yzak's beam saber swings. When Fon saw an opening in the Duel's battle position, he grabbed his beam saber and swung it towards the Duel's weak spot. Yzak backed away from the Astrea in time to parry off the beam saber strike. "Good, that pilot's spotted his own weakness and countered it."

"This guy's just toying with me," Yzak told himself. Suddenly, all of the ZAFT forces noticed an orange colored mobile suit that resembled the BuCUE, but its armaments were different. "What's that machine?"

Waltfeld opened up his channel to all soldiers. "Concentrate on the mission objectives! Aisha and I will take on the Strike."

"Yzak, don't lose focus on that mobile suit!" Dearka warned his teammate in case Yzak protested. He dodged the beam shots coming from the Dagonet as Nicol and Athrun fought against the Hermos. "Hold on a sec, where the hell is the fourth machine? There were supposed to be four masked mobile suits, but one of them's missing!"

"You're right. Are they trying to play tricks with us?" Yzak growled as he grew irritated at his opponent. "You're starting to bug me!"

"This is just for starters." Fon swung the GN Hammer at the Duel again, hoping for it to block it. However, Fon picked up the GN Hammer and swung it towards the Buster. "Man, I can't believe you've fallen for that trick!"

"Dearka, look out!" Yzak yelled frantically. Dearka gasped as he was caught between the GN Hammer and the Dagonet's beam sniper shot. "No!" He lunged forward to block the Dagonet's beam shot but lost his machine's left arm holding the shield. "My machine!"

"Yzak, thanks for saving my hide back there." Dearka fired his beam rifle back at the Dagonet and launched some of its missiles. "There's no end to those guys!"

"They should get tired soon. We've been fighting for a couple of hours. Six hours to be exact," Yzak answered back.

By nightfall, both sides continued to unleash their firepower at each other but the Meisters began to get tired from the attrition. Waltfeld and Aisha returned to the Lesseps to resupply, but the other ZAFT machines continued to launch their missiles towards the Strike. Kira and Fon shot down all of the airborne missiles as Regene and Tieria tried to retreat towards the Archangel, but the Aegis and the Blitz had blocked their way.

To make matters worse, the Duel and Buster had also blocked the other side of the escape route, trapping the Tristan and the Hermos along with the Dagonet, which was struck down by a barrage of missiles fired from the Lesseps. Alex's team joined in the war of attrition while Axis and Naruto continued to fight, though both combatants began to get tired from their long battle.

"This is Susanoo, I'm heading back to the Lesseps. If you must, retreat to the ship to resupply and rest. Reinforcements from Banadiya, Gibraltar and even space will continue to tire Celestial Being out," Axis advised his squadmates.

Yzak began to sweat as everyone noticed their energy levels and saw that it was already low. "We'll join you, Commander Aker."

"Good. The Strike should be out of power as well," Axis said as the Strike and Astrea returned to the Archangel along with the PMC Trust mobile suits and their Desert Dawn allies. "Tomorrow, we'll resume our fight. We can't fight a war of attrition and get the enemy exhausted if we're also exhausted."

"You're right, Axis." Athrun followed his new commander, disappointed that he wasn't able to fight Kira. He was satisfied from his fight with Tieria, confident that the Aegis's pilot would come up with a plan to capture the Hermos.

The attrition continued into the night as the Gundam Meisters became more exhausted, leaving them vulnerable to capture. They didn't have the luxury of having the Ptolemaios 3 with them, like what the Strike and Astrea had when they had the Archangel to return to when they're exhausted and out of power. To make matters worse for Celestial Being, there were more pods dropped on to Earth as it opened to reveal sixteen GINNs armed with machine guns and a special equipment designed to capture the masked mobile suits.

Tieria and Regene spotted the GINNs and fired their beam weapons towards them, but their shots had missed their target. However, it wasn't mainly due to the GINNs' speed, but rather it was because the Meisters were too tired to fight back. Hixar fared no better in his end and was nearly out of particles because he used them up for his beam shot. The sixteen GINNs that were sent down to Earth quickly moved to capture the immobile Gundams, with the pilots too tired to resist.

"We're not gonna die like this," Tieria growled.

"Let's face it, Tieria. We're too exhausted to continue," Regene reminded his twin.

The captured Gundams didn't reach the warships until the next morning when they reached Banadiya. By then, the Archangel and the PMC mobile suits had caught up with them as Kira and Fon launched out of the Archangel's catapult to rescue the masked Gundams. Kira spotted the orange colored mobile suit that resembled the BuCUE, only it had a beam weapon in the back.

"Hey, hotshot. You'll have to get past me first if you want to rescue your friends in Celestial Being," Waltfeld told him.

Fon growled and moved away. "Kira, I'll rescue the masked mobile suits."

"Bring us along with you, Fon." Naruto's squad came along with him as they opened fire on the ZAFT GINNs that were responsible for transporting the captured mobile suits.

"Never mess with us, ZAFT soldiers. We're just too good for ya," Fon sneered as he aimed his beam rifle at the GINN and fired, destroying it. He turned to the rest of the GINNs that held the Hermos as the Astrea dispatched them all. "Erde boy, get the hell up!"

"How could I?" Tieria moaned tiredly. "I'm...I'm..."

"If you don't get up, you'll die!" Fon reminded him harshly. He turned his attention towards the incoming Aker team led by Alex herself as Axis's team launched soon after. Naruto and Axis resumed their battle as Fon was surrounded by the four stolen Earth Forces machines. "Why now, of all times!"

"Make sure that you don't destroy that machine! We need to capture that too!" Athrun reminded his teammates.

Yzak smirked. "I know what you mean, Athrun."

"The hardest part is the armor itself. If we could even make a dent in that armor, then we'd have a good chance of damaging it," Dearka replied back. He turned towards the Blitz and issued a warning. "Nicol, don't get too close to that thing. It's got that weird hammer."

"I know that, Dearka," Nicol said.

"The Strike is fighting Commander Waltfeld right now, so our main objective is to damage that red machine." Athrun took aim at the Astrea with his beam rifle and fired it, but Fon dodged the shot. Yzak fired the railgun and missiles as Dearka and Nicol took turns firing their beam weapons at Fon. "Don't waste your energy recklessly!"

Meanwhile, Naruto and Axis clashed blades fiercely while Alex's team engaged the rest of the PMC squad, now led by Gai Murakumo. The Archangel continued to follow the masked Gundams, but soon ran into an oil derrick. They had to dodge a stray beam shot fired from the newly deployed LaGOWE while Kira was struggling to shoot the custom machine down.

"It looks like your friends in Celestial Being are finally down. What are you going to do about it?" Axis taunted as he swung the GN Katana down into the Ahead's shield. "You seem to be calm."

Naruto didn't answer back as he grabbed his beam rifle and fired back at the Susanoo, but Axis took his rifle away and sliced it into two pieces. Both combatants kept on crossing blades with each other, even as Alex and her team managed to shoot down some of the PMC Enacts that came towards them.

"Damn it, Axis! Why can't you finish him off?" Alex growled at her brother. "If you're just playing soft on him, then let me take over!"

"No, Alex! This is my fight, and I'll decide on how it will go! You're just gonna get in the way," Axis replied back coldly.

"Axis, you're just toying with your opponent! I'll show you how it's done!" Alex fired her beam rifle towards Naruto as he dodged the beam shots and used her beam saber to slice the Ahead's left arm holding the shield. "You may have gotten comfortable fighting my defective brother, but you'll never win against me!"

"How the hell is he defective? I don't see him as defective!" Naruto replied back. "You're just looking down on people who are not as good as you are, Alex Aker!"

Alex smiled wickedly. "In life, there are people who are divided into two groups, the prodigious elites and the worthless failures. The failures deserve to be treated as such!"

Naruto gasped at her words as he remembered Neji saying the same thing when they fought against each other during the Chunin Exams. He glared back at her as a blood red seed burst and the Ahead started to move to the side rapidly. Naruto grabbed his beam saber and clashed blades against Alex. Axis rejoined his team, allowing his sister to focus her attention towards her opponent.

"You've become intense, Uzumaki. I wonder if it's got to do with that berserker ability that Commander Waltfeld has told that traitorous friend of yours," Alex spoke first.

"Never refer Kira Yamato as a traitor, you bitch," Naruto growled back. He gave her a roundhouse kick in the head as the Ahead sliced the CGUE's left arm. "I can't stand people who look down on others."

"Hah! You only say that because you're one of those people destined to be failures!" Alex replied back. She and Naruto continued to clash blades fiercely. Naruto attempted to stab the CGUE in the cockpit, but Alex backed away just in time. He only managed to scratch the CGUE while Alex slashed back at the Ahead, scarring the cockpit. Both combatants held their beam sabers tightly as they lunged towards each other. Naruto and Alex got out of their damaged machines as they exploded furiously. "You're not as bad as I thought."

"Damn. Now I've got no weapons left to fight," Naruto said. He started to run towards the Desert Dawn jeep and climbed inside as Kisaka gave him an RPG. "Thanks."

"Cagalli's gone inside the Archangel," Kisaka explained. "You'll help me deal with the rest of the ZAFT helicopters."

"No problem." Naruto took aim at the nearest chopper and shot it down. Hotaru's Enact flew towards them as she transformed into mobile suit mode and climbed off her cockpit. "Hotaru, what are you doing?"

"Naruto, what happened to your machine?" Hotaru asked. "Don't tell me-"

"It was destroyed, but I managed to stab the enemy machine. Right now, I'm helping Kisaka shoot down the choppers," Naruto answered back. He saw her Enact and asked. "Can I borrow your Enact?"

"I'm going back inside. You just stay in the jeepney," Hotaru advised him. She returned to her mobile suit and continued to fight against the incoming ZAFT GINNs. She took aim with her sonic rifle and shot down a ZuOOT that came towards her. A minute later, Sakura's Enact approached her and sliced a GINN Ocher that snuck up behind her. "Sakura."

"Why is Naruto in a jeepney?" Sakura asked.

"His machine was destroyed," Hotaru answered back. "Sakura, you'd better distract the four stolen machines. They're here with that black samurai mobile suit Naruto fought earlier."

"Are you serious?" Sakura fired her blade rifle at a GINN Ocher and it exploded. She transformed her Enact into mobile armor mode as the two kunoichis advanced towards Axis's team. "Where's Murakumo and Elijah?"

"Did you guys call for us? I think I've spotted Lowe Guele around here somewhere," Murakumo said. He and Elijah approached the other Aker team and fired their rifles. "So those machines are the ones that were built for the Earth Forces but got stolen by ZAFT."

"So what do we do now, boss?" Elijah asked back lightly.

"What else?" Murakumo grabbed his sword and pointed it at the Susanoo. "Engage them in combat. I've wanted to fight against that samurai suit badly."

The Blue Frame lunged towards the Susanoo as they clashed blades. Murakumo kicked the GN Katana out of the Susanoo's hands as he grabbed his beam rifle and fired back, but Axis used his GN Field to deflect the shot. Murakumo was shocked at how the mobile suit could have the same defensive capabilities as the Umbrella itself. Elijah was also busy engaging the Duel and the Buster, but he was no match for the two ZAFT Red Coat pilots.

"Sakura, Hotaru. We're gonna need your help just about now," Elijah said as Yzak kicked his suit aside.

"You're not gonna beat us here!" Hotaru used her blade rifle's blade and slammed it against the Duel's beam saber. "You've got guts fighting someone who's just as skilled as you are."

"Out of my way, you damned Natural!" Yzak growled back as he fired his beam rifle, but Hotaru used the Enact's defense rod to deflect the beam shot off. "What the hell? Well, I'll just have to slice you up!"

"Not a chance!" Hotaru snapped back and used her blade rifle to block the Duel's beam saber. "Do it, Murakumo!"

"What the?" Yzak gasped as he realized that he was in a trap. The Duel quickly moved away from the Blue Frame's line of fire and kicked it to the ground. "You're not gonna beat me."

Yzak joined Dearka and Nicol in their attempt to wear down the Astrea, but Fon had used his GN Hammer to block the missiles and beams. Athrun snuck up behind him and used the Aegis's claws to latch on to the Astrea. Fon growled and tried to shake the Aegis off the Astrea's back but Athrun held on tight.

"Good job, Athrun!" Dearka complimented his teammate.

"Yeah! Great timing indeed," Nicol added, but Hotaru's sonic shot from her blade rifle interrupted their short lived victory as she fired her salvo of missiles towards the Aegis, knocking the Astrea out of its grip. "We've still got a chance to capture that unit!"

"I'm gonna finish them off!" Dearka aimed his rifle at the Archangel, but he missed his shot and hit the derrick instead. "What the?"

"If you didn't fire your beam rifle, the legged ship would still be stuck!" Axis turned his attention towards the two Enacts and used his GN Katanas to block the blade rifles. "Seems to me that I'm fighting two low-grade machines. Then again, maybe the PMC Trust isn't your average grunt unit!"

"Do it, Sakura!" Hotaru shouted. Sakura nodded and fired her salvo of missiles at the Susanoo, point blank. Axis's vision was covered by the smoke, allowing both Enacts to slam their blade rifles into the Susanoo's back, sending Axis down into the ground. "Our blade rifles aren't gonna help break down that machine, but we'll engage that machine long enough for the Astrea to return towards the Archangel."

"I can see what you've got in mind, Hotaru." Sakura took aim with her blade rifle and fired it at the Duel. Yzak blocked the shot as he and Dearka fired back. "Hotaru, where's Murakumo and Elijah?"

"Over here, guys!" Murakumo replied back. He stood in front of the two Enacts and flew towards the stolen machines. "Assume formation Sigma, Epsilon, and Tau."

"Roger that."

"We'll get into formation too. Assume Alpha, Zeta, and Theta." Axis moved in front of his group and fired the GN Cannon in the Susanoo's chest. He threw his GN Katana into the beam shot, piercing it in the middle, causing the shots to split into multiple directions. The PMCs that arrived to help the Archangel were quickly destroyed. Sakura's Enact also suffered some damage, but Elijah's GINN was the unit with the most severe damage in the aftermath. "Well, it seems that we've just about to win this battle."

"This isn't over until it's over!" Hotaru tightened her grip on the controls and flew towards the Susanoo with Murakumo and Elijah following her.

"What's the status of the captured masked Gundams?" Axis asked DaCosta after he flew closer towards the Lesseps. "Don't tell me you still haven't gotten them into the city."

"Not yet, but we're gonna need some more units to secure the Gundams. They're not your average machines, and they're definitely not like the Le Creuset team's units," DaCosta replied back. "What are you doing right now, Axis?"

"I'm gonna need to come back. I'll recall my team right now," Axis answered back and contacted his teammates. "Attention, all Aker team members. Return to the Lesseps right away! Our mission is accomplished!"

Athrun sighed in relief, but couldn't help but feel disappointed that he wasn't able to fight Kira. "Roger that."

"So those machines are the masked Gundams." Dearka looked at the masked Gundams bounded with some kind of restraints. "Well, I'm surprised we've managed to capture them after a very long battle."

"Even the Gundam pilots have limits, just like we do," Athrun said as he flew beside them. "Now that we've got the masked Gundams, we can finally-"

Suddenly, a beam shot appeared out of nowhere as the GINNs escorting the captured Hermos were quickly destroyed. Athrun and Nicol moved to the side as they saw an unfamiliar mobile suit holding what appeared to be a beam weapon in its hands. To make matters worse, another beam shot also appeared out of nowhere, this time it was a very powerful beam cannon shot. The GINNs escorting the Tristan and Hermos were suddenly obliterated, freeing the Meisters and their Gundams.

"What is that machine? We have no idea what it is!" Yzak said. He aimed his beam rifle at the newcomer and fired it, but the mystery machine simply used its GN Field to block it. "Insane power! And it's not even a masked machine!"

"Just who are we dealing with here?" Nicol used the Glenipirs at the mystery machine, but it also grabbed its beam saber and sliced the Blitz's right arm. "That quick? We've gotta get back to the Lesseps!"

"The other land battleship besides the Henry Carter was just destroyed!" Athrun spotted the machine with a mega launcher as he threw his shield at it. The new machine simply kicked the shield aside and slammed itself into the Aegis. "What the?"

"Commander Waltfeld! We've got trouble!" Dearka called. Waltfeld's face appeared on the screen. "There's two unknown machines that just appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the GINNs escorting the captured masked Gundams!"

"Are you serious? Just as the Strike is about to run out of power, this happens." Waltfeld fired the beam cannon from the LaGOWE's back towards the Strike. "Make sure you four don't engage those machines. We may have to retreat, but not before I finish this machine off."

"Just stop this, Commander Waltfeld! You've already lost the battle, so why not just surrender?" Kira said, but Waltfeld lunged towards him.

"Like I said, there are no clear winners and losers in war! That is why I am going to finish you off myself!" Waltfeld yelled back. "Even if it meant that I would have to die as well!"

"Andy-" Aisha began, but Waltfeld turned to her.

"I thought you would get back to the Lesseps, Aisha," Waltfeld told her, but she shook her head. "I guess we're both idiots then. In that case, I won't give up until one of us is dead!"

The Strike finally ran out of power as the beam saber was deactivated. An amethyst seed burst inside Kira's mind as he grabbed the Armor Schneider knives and stabbed the LaGOWE in the neck. Waltfeld and Aisha embraced each other for the last time before the damaged LaGOWE was finally destroyed. Kira began to cry in frustration as he banged his fists into the controls.

"It didn't have to end this way!" Kira cried. "It just didn't have to end this way!"

Athrun saw the smoke coming from the desert as he closed his eyes and saluted quietly. "Guys, I think Commander Waltfeld just died in combat."

"You're not joking, are you?" Yzak asked back curiously. When Athrun didn't say anything, he just closed his eyes and silently accompanied his teammates back to the Lesseps. "Damn the Strike! If we'd been there-"

"Don't say anything! Let us not forget that Commander Waltfeld didn't die in vain," Athrun reminded him. "Once we know where the legged ship will go next, we'll chase it down. Or, we could pursue the PMC machines."

"The PMC machines may be a lot more dangerous than the legged ship, but at least the solar powered red suit is destroyed. Too bad that experimental CGUE was also destroyed. Now only the Housenka has the machine," Yzak replied back. "So now, we're going to fight a lot harder to avenge our dead comrades."

* * *

**ARCHANGEL**

* * *

Fon arrived at the bridge along with Kira and the two new pilots that intervened in the last battle as Murrue turned her attention towards them. Both pilots took off their helmets as Fon gasped at their appearance. One of the pilots had a long, blond hair and green eyes while the other pilot had violet hair and magenta eyes. Fon was pleased to see Leo Sieg once again after two millenia, but as for Revive Revival's reappearance, he wasn't happy at all.

"I'd like to say thank you for your help. Those masked mobile suits finally retreated from the desert and possibly back into outer space," Murrue began to speak, but the reawakened Innovade smiled.

"We were just following orders from VEDA. Unfortunately for us, Tieria Erde is the guy in control of VEDA right now," Revive answered back. He turned to Fon and smirked. "So we've met at last, Fon Spaak. The last time we fought each other was probably in the orbital elevator."

"Cut the chitchat, Revive and tell us why you decided to help Celestial Being after following that nutjob back in 2312. Seriously, do you have a goddamned motive or something?" Fon replied back suspiciously. Despite his absence during Anew's failed attempt to steal the 00 with Revive's help, Fon wasn't fooled by Revive's demeanor.

"Mr. Spaak, please!" Natarle pleaded, but Fon raised his hand.

"I'm afraid this time you don't have a twin sister to use as a beacon to track down, Revive Revival. Setsuna killed her off after she nearly killed Lockon Stratos," Fon told Revive, but he didn't react. "I guess you Innovades don't give a damn about your twins. It goes to show that Ribbons Almark is the biggest nutjob in the history of humanity itself."

Revive glared back at Fon. "Ribbons is dead, all right? So maybe you should drop your grudge and accept us."

"Yeah, like I'll do that right away. Not with that psychopath Beside Pain on the loose," Fon said sarcastically. "You may not know this, but good old Setsuna has left a prophecy that connects him to his two last descendants. One of them is a PMC trust merc and the other guy's a ZAFT soldier."

"You didn't change at all after a long time, Fon," Leonard Fiennes said. He bowed to the crew and introduced himself. "I'm Leonard Fiennes, but I also go by the name of Leo Sieg. I'm the pilot of the GNZ-001 GRM Gundam E. I was frozen cryogenically at the same time as Mr. Fon did, but unlike him, I am actually a genuine Innovator."

Revive scoffed. "You, an Innovator? Please, only we are the real Innovators."

"Not entirely true. You should have known by now that Setsuna was the first genuine pure breed. Leonard was the first guy to become an Innovator through fusing with the ELS, which by the way the aliens that were referred in the _'dialogues to come'_. Believe me, if you were alive during the ELS conflict, you'd be assimilated or killed instantly." Fon reminded the Innovade. "Leo, buddy. Are you gonna join us?"

"Well, I could ask Tieria if I can become a full time Meister. Once we officially recruit that guy the Serpent Tail had rescued, then we can focus on recruiting those two guys from the Serpent Tail that came from the ELS' homeworld," Leo answered back. "So then, shall we celebrate our victory?"

* * *

To be continued...

So I've introduced the famous Leonard Fiennes, the seven year old Super Soldier from the HRL who became Fereshte's Gundam Meister along with Delphine Bedelia. Unfortunately, she won't appear in this fic at all, so Leonard could either be paired with Sakura or Shiho Hahnenfuss. I may have a good idea on whom I'm going to pair Kira with, and it's either Flay, Alex or Miriallia. As for Fon, I'm thinking of pairing him with Natarle since they're like the opposites of each other.

On the other hand, I've started to watch some Yugioh 5D because I've taken an interest in some of the characters, like Yusei and Akiza.(Of course, she's like the colder, darker version of Kallen from Code Geass. Their hairstyle and facial resemblance are the same, they could even be sisters.)

Anyways, if possible, I could end doing a Yugioh 5D fic sometime in the future, or even write an AU Yugioh old school fic. I had in mind, like 'What if Marik had joined Yugi and his gang in the Virtual World against the Big Five?'


	16. The Ruins of Krugis

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

* * *

_**Turn Sixteen: The Ruins of Krugis**_

A troop transport waited in the North African port city of Benghazi for the PMC troops that would return back to Moralia because they've finally completed their mission. Among them, the Serpent Tail group who participated in the last battle against the forces of ZAFT under Andrew Waltfeld. The troop transport departed from the port as soon as the Serpent Tail group boarded the ship. It sailed towards Moralia without any incident occuring at all, barring an occasional run in with a ZAFT Vosgulov-class submarine carrier.

When the troop transport arrived at Moralia, every PMC soldier disembarked from the ship and made their way into the airfield. Naruto was led away by a PMC officer towards the hangar while everyone marched from the airfields, towards their barracks. Inside the hangar, the technicians barked orders to their subordinates as a mobile suit resembling the Flag had its armor attached.

"A recon mission? I never thought that the Earth Forces are desperate for our help, after what their predecessor has done to eradicate our company's existence," Naruto spoke first.

"It's war, Uzumaki. The Earth Forces are still on the receiving end of ZAFT's offensive, and that's where we come in." the hangar opened the lights to reveal the mobile suit Naruto glanced at earlier. "I want you to pilot this machine."

"Another antiquated mobile suit? The last machine I piloted was destroyed," Naruto said sadly.

"That's all right. We came up with a back up plan in case your Ahead was destroyed. Luckily enough, we've come across this design just before the Reconstruction War broke out, but the machine's first deployment was during the ELS Conflict, so I think you'd get a good edge over your opponents with this Brave suit," the officer explained. "GNX-903VW Brave Commander Type. Of course, we've painted it with your favorite colors, black and orange."

Naruto grinned and patted the Brave suit. "I like this machine already. When do I get to test this suit out?"

"You will actually get to use it in battle, since your next mission will take place in the former Republic of Krugis. There's a ZAFT special forces that have been harrassing the Earth Forces' shipping lanes a lot lately, and they've asked us to dislodge these guys from Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah. Of course, there are some Desert Dawn fighters that have linked up with remnants of the former KPSA. Unfortunately, the Earth Forces have decided to use their plans to clamp down on separatist problems in the former Kingdom of Azadistan, which became the most vocal critic of the Earth Forces as a whole." The officer showed Naruto a suitcase full of cash. "We will have to keep your money safely here, as to avoid getting it stolen. Of course, you'll have to get an appropriate ammount of money to spend on your Kurdish adventure."

"Now that's tempting indeed." Naruto could only grin and touch the new Brave suit as he grew excited at the next mission he will carry out.

"You can try it out now, if you wish. Just to get used to the controls, since it's entirely different from the Ahead suit you piloted before," the officer advised him.

The black and orange colored Brave Commander Type slowly moved out of the hangar and into the runway as Naruto began to take off from the runway and into the sky. He began to maneuver the Brave around, but he quickly found that adjusting to the Brave's speed was harder than he originally thought. For one thing, transforming the Brave into mobile suit mode in mid-air wasn't the same as transforming the Enact in mid-air.

"Hey, Uzumaki! Don't just go too fast, just because you know how to pilot that thing from your training with the Enact!" the officer spoke to him over the comm. Unfortunately, his message didn't get through because of the GN particle's interference with radio communications. "Damn it, who's going to stop him if he gets out of control?"

Sakura noticed the orange colored Brave and ran quickly towards the radio tower. "Naruto, just slow down for a moment and land your mobile suit into the ground."

"I'm trying!" Naruto gritted his teeth as he tried to fiddle around the controls. He stepped on the brakes and landed into the ground with the Brave in its mobile suit mode. He wheezed in relief as he took off his helmet. "Man, that was hard!"

"You idiot." Sakura grabbed his ear as soon as she came down. "Don't get too cocky, just because you have a new machine. It takes time to get used to it, just like when you first learned the Rasengan, and how you turned it into a Wind jutsu."

"I got that message, Sakura. I was just too excited to try it out," Naruto said. "By the way, the next mission will be carried out in a week or two."

"I know, and we're going to this country somewhere in this Middle East. Why do they call that region the Middle East?" Sakura wondered. She and Naruto climbed inside the Brave and took off again, but this time they were going to transform into mobile armor mode and land it back into the airfield so he could store it back inside the hangar.

"Are you all right with your machine too?" Naruto asked back. "I could ask the engineers if they have the designs for the regular version of the Brave."

Sakura looked at the Brave and placed her hand on the mobile suit's arm. "Is this what they called it? Brave, sounds a bit lame, to be honest."

"I don't know who came up with that name, but I sure know that he or she wasn't thinking straight," Naruto replied back cheekily. "Where's Hotaru and Murakumo?"

"Oh, they're just resting right now. Why don't we call it a day and relax for a bit?" Sakura led Naruto out of the hangar and into the barracks where the rest of the Serpent Tail group sat down on Elijah's bed. "I wonder what they're doing right now."

They joined the rest of the group as Kazahana Adja explained to them what's going on in space. "...and Kirabi helped us retrieve the materials needed to construct the new Gundams that Celestial Being would need. Of course, we may have to recycle the frame itself because we don't have the funds needed to build a new mobile suit entirely from scratch."

"So how is Celestial Being going to select the new Meisters? Naruto is a shoo-in, assuming that he changes his mind on joining. Kirabi can join too, and Goud Veia is definitely an asset to them if he joins. The problem lies with his bipolar personality," Murakumo explained. "Plus I heard from Fon Spaak that there's a weird guy named Leo Sieg who is currently aboard the Archangel after he and an Innovade named Revive Revival had helped the Meisters out of their troubles."

"We don't have any information on this Leo Sieg guy since he's a member of Fereshte, meaning that we cannot access his information. It's top secret, after all," Kazahana answered. She grinned playfully and waved goodbye as the link went off.

"What about Fon?" Naruto began.

"Oh, he's just upset because of that purple haired guy who's aboard the Archangel," Elijah sighed.

* * *

**RED SEA**

* * *

"Mr. Stad, are you still going to treat your savior roughly, even if he saved your life?" Murrue asked Fon as she pointed to Revive, who stood beside her. Unlike all of the Archangel's crew who witnessed the great miracle that occured in the desert, Fon had a hostile past with that Innovade. None of the Archangel's crew had to witness how the Innovades manipulated the wars between Celestial Being and the A-LAWS since they weren't born yet, but Fon learned about their actions through Celestial Being's main branch.

"Revive may have saved our butts back in the desert, but I can't trust that sleazeball. For example, what if you have a crew member aboard who looked almost like him, but he used her as a homing beacon?" Fon referred to the incident with Anew back in the Ptolemaios 2 when he and Tieria spoke about it before he started his mission. "Or, what if-"

"I may not have any information on your history with him, but as long as you're all on this ship, I expect each and every one of you to obey my rules. That means, no fights and no hard feelings towards each other. We're fighting a war here, and we can't have two pilots bickering all the time," Murrue warned.

"So where are we heading off right now?" Revive asked the ship captain. He felt a familiar sensation with Murrue when she spoke to him, but since he had limited memories of his previous life, Revive can't remember what they were.

Murrue pointed at the electronic map of the Red Sea, wedged between Africa and the coast of Saudi Arabia. "We're trying to go through the Indian Ocean. Our next objective is to-"

"Bring the girl and her bodyguard to their homeland, right?" Revive finished Murrue's sentence even before she can complete it. "It wouldn't make sense to fly over Eurasian airspace, even if this ship can fly. Going through Europe would be a crazy idea because of the Gibraltar base."

"We know that we're going to face the ZAFT fleet from Carpentaria, but we have to pass by Carpentaria before we arrive in Orb. I'm just curious at how you know these things, Mr. Revival?" Murrue ignored Fon's glare. "His attitude towards you hasn't changed at all."

"I understand that. Since he was a member of Fereshte and Anew Returner was our sleeper agent aboard the Ptolemaios 2, he knows about the aborted mission to steal the 00 Raiser. After all, Tieria Erde told him that story," Revive answered back. "Despite my short term memory, I can still remember some of my memories. Hixar Fermi has kept the chronicles of Celestial Being's activites for over two thousand years."

Mu spoke up after Murrue sat down. "So you snuck a sleeper agent aboard the enemy ship and launched your plans to steal this 00 from within? Captain, if this scenario was played on our ship, they would target the Strike instead of that 00 thingy."

"I admit, that's a very deadly strategy to use. Sneaking a sleeper agent inside, and did she by any chance, fell in love with someone?" Murrue asked back. Fon answered that question instead, and with a serious tone.

"She fell in love with a Gundam Meister. I can't say who it was because I have to keep the secret, but that guy was lonely when she died. I can't reveal my secrets at all, or I'd get my neck blown up." Fon showed Mu and Murrue the scar he received from the explosive necklace. All of the bridge members cringed at that sight, wondering how he survived that fatal injury that would surely kill a regular man.

"That scar's gross and barbaric," Natarle commented. "And they'd resort to something barbaric to keep their secrets hidden to themselves."

"Hey, that's the rules. Just like your rules aboard this ship, Celestial Being has rules too. Theirs are a lot harsher for obvious reasons." Fon hid the scar with his shirt collar. He turned to Leonard and walked out of the bridge and into the corridor.

"My first impression on that Leo Sieg guy, he's almost like me. Down to earth and friendly. I wonder if I might be related to that guy," Mu joked but Murrue wasn't laughing.

"I still don't know how those two pilots could live in this day and age if they've seen those events that happened two thousand years ago," Murrue replied back. Revive chuckled and smiled as his eyes glew.

"It's obvious, isn't it? They're locked inside the cryogenic capsule for two millenia. I don't know anything about that Leo guy, but all the same, they used to be humans. Now they're not completely human anymore." Revive sat down on an empty seat that Kuzzey vacated earlier. "My sister Anew fell in love with a Gundam Meister, Lockon Stratos. Unlike Fon Spaak who's a member of Celestial Being, I can reveal every single information about what happened aboard that ship."

"Aren't you a member of this Celestial whatever you called it?" Natarle was amazed and shocked at how Revive could flout regular military rules.

"Nope, I was a member of the A-LAWS. However, I had a special license to do whatever I wanted on the battlefield, so that I could engage Celestial Being more effectively. Ribbons Almark knew what's going on aboard Celestial Being's ship because Anew was specifically programmed to track down their movements. I was the homing signal that located her, using quantum brainwaves," Revive explained. "If I regained my memories, I can explain how it really went. Right now, I can't remember most of my past."

"We're approaching the Indian Ocean, ma'am," Sai Argyle reported.

Natarle nodded and turned to Revive. "About that mobile suit you used to save Celestial Being-"

"It's an old suit, and quite rare too. GN Drive technology was destroyed when the Reconstruction War broke out." Revive stopped himself from explaining information that could compromise Celestial Being's existence more than it should have been. "Still, there are some solar powered mobile suits that have been buried in outer space. It is only a matter of time before either side has found those machines."

"Our friend Naruto has found an Ahead, but it was destroyed. The ZAFT forces found a machine that looked a lot like a samurai in space, and it's still useable. Other than that, both the Earth Forces and ZAFT experienced the receiving end of Celestial Being's armed interventions. That's all we came up with," Mu replied back. "Captain?"

"We may need your services aboard this ship, if possible. Would you mind staying with us until we've reached Orb?" Murrue asked the Innovade.

Revive smiled. "Of course, Captain. I can help your ship escape past these obstacles, and one of your pilots need to improve with the performance on his mobile suit."

"That would be Ensign Kira Yamato. He's in the hangar right now, Mr. Revival." Murrue pointed at the elevator of the bridge as Revive walked out. She turned to Natarle and gave orders. "Have this ship stand by on Code Yellow Battle Status."

"Code Yellow? There are no enemies, captain," Natarle pointed out.

Murrue nodded. "Yes, but we may expect some ambushes from either ZAFT or Celestial Being. Still, the entire crew has been fighting hard lately."

"Maybe a break on the deck would be nice. Who knows? Revive could get to know Kira and his friends, and he'll probably request his superiors some extra mobile suits," Mu spoke back as he also went out of the bridge.

"Don't get your hopes up, Lt. Comm. La Flaga," Murrue reminded him mildly.

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

* * *

Tieria wasn't happy about the last battle. To him, it was a repeat of the Taklamakan Desert ambush where they nearly lost their Gundams. Still, that was in the past, he told himself, but he can't get that nagging feeling out of his mind about his new saviors. The Trinity siblings saved them during that ambush, and this time around it was an old Fereshte member and one of the Innovades who fought alongside Ribbons when they reclaimed VEDA from them.

"It just doesn't make sense. Why did those two intervened to save us? Would they create chaos like what the Trinities did the last time around?" Tieria asked Reena Carmine, who sat down on her command chair. She smiled at the purple haired Meister and winked at him.

"Life's all about surprises, Tieria. As the guardian of VEDA, you should get used to what life gives you by now. They're not the type to create chaos, but I can sense something funny about that purple haired guy who came down with Leo," Reena told him.

Demetrius Vashti nodded. "I agree with you, Tieria. The last time that Innovade prowled around the older Ptolemaios 2, my ancestor Mileina had a gun pointed to her head by some crazy chick and forced her to launch the 00 Raiser. We know how that ended."

"Still, we should have done something to thank them. Why don't we send the Archangel some gifts to show that we're not hostile towards them? Two GN Cannons would do nicely for them, and the 1.5. Gundam," Hixar suggested, but Tieria glared at him.

"Are you nuts? Why would we jeopardize our fighting strength for something trivial as that?" he asked back.

"Oh, Tieria. We're just showing our thanks to our allies for covering for us. That help was denied to your group when you were nearly captured," Regene pointed out, to Tieria's discomfort. "Let's contact the Junk Guild and have them deliver our presents to the Archangel."

Reena smirked. "Now you're thinking like a real Meister."

"But this doesn't make sense!" Tieria protested. Reena came closer towards him and grinned.

"You've got to think outside the box, tough man. It's better to give than to receive, right? Despite our status as a secret organization, we may have to help end the war. Of course, armed interventions alone won't help end the war, but we can help one of the factions to end the conflict as soon as possible. I know that you're not comfortable with this idea, Tieria, but the world is in the middle of a huge war and our armed interventions would bring out the result like last time. You're the brainiac of the Meister group, so start using your brains," Reena replied back.

Demetrius typed something on the keyboard and gasped. "I've got a secured line to the Junk Guild's Cornelius-class ship. It appears to be someone named Kisato."

"It's you guys. What do you want with us this time?" Kisato Yamabuki asked the Ptolemaios 3's crew bitterly.

"Are you still sore from our first encounter? You know, we weren't seriously going to eliminate your forces," Demetrius spoke back as Reena took over. "Hey!"

"Sorry about what happened when we first met each other, but we've got a favor to ask you. How would you like to deliver some mobile suits to the Archangel in the Indian Ocean? Of course, the Giga-Float is also located there, but they might be in a battle by the time you guys deliver those presents," Reena asked.

Lowe Guele saw Kisato chatting to Reena and waved. "Hello there! I heard that you're asking us to deliver something, right? Under our rules, we're not supposed to side with anyone at all."

"Your organization and ours are similar, but we carry out armed interventions while your group just salvages mobile suit parts. Of course, the Archangel is in danger of being sunk since it carries one mobile suit recovered from Heliopolis, and I assume that you know which machine is it, right?" Reena replied back to the Red Frame pilot.

"Of course! The Earth Forces's mobile suit, the Strike! If they will arrive in Orb, they could give the combat data to Ms. Erica and she'll complete the Astray Project. What kind of mobile suits are we going to deliver?" Lowe asked back curiously.

"Two GN-077 GN Cannons and one CB-001.5 1.5 Gundam. Of course, if we can find a Sakibure, that might help you with your work exponentially. You could just pay us back whenever you have to, OK?" Reena told Lowe.

Kisato shrugged. "That's fine then. As long as we're not going to enter the battlefield, we're fine with that. Heck, doing business with you guys could be just as fun as challenging the Serpent Tail on a game of chess."

"Don't let Gai Murakumo hear you say that. They're on Earth, as we speak." Reena winked at Lowe as they went offline. She turned back to the Meisters. "There, see? Problem solved."

"Has anyone seen Leif yet?" Regene asked curiously. They looked around the bridge and couldn't find him.

"He's probably isolating himself. Beside Pain has returned to take control of his mind once again," Hixar said darkly. "I'm not his biggest fan or something, but we need to come up with a plan in case Beside goes berserk again."

* * *

**EURASIAN FEDERATION EARTH ALLIANCE BASE**

**SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY**

* * *

Naraku stood alongside his new teammates, dressed in their new Earth Forces uniforms while an officer gave out his speech. The weather in south-eastern Turkey was hot for Naraku to handle, but at least he was relieved to have completed his basic training. After the opening speech was over, Naraku walked over to the hangar and climbed inside his mobile suit. Three mechanics approached him and offered to help out with the repairs on his acquired Green Frame.

"Can you smell that desert heat, young man?" the first mechanic asked Naraku.

"It's not that bad. The town I came from, it can get a bit hotter than this," Naraku replied back lightly. "Still, I wonder what's with the commotion over our deployment, and why would they be excited?"

"Oh, they're just eager to get into the battlefield against those damned coordinators." the second mechanic gave Naraku a map. "I guess this is where you'll be going."

"Krugis?" Naraku pointed at the map. "Is that the place we'll go?"

"Most likely. You're from the Atlantic Federation, aren't you?" a third mechanic asked Naraku. He nodded and smiled. "There's a few Atlantic Feddie troops deployed in Eurasia though."

Naraku nodded. "I can understand that. Is it difficult for Atlantic Federation soldiers to walk around in Eurasia?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud P.A. announcement. "All Earth Forces soldiers, deploy your units at once!"

The Earth Forces task force left their base in south-eastern Turkey three hours later under cover of darkness. There were only a few Enacts and Flags that flew alongside six hundred Linear Tanks and thirty troop carriers containing at least twenty infantry soldiers. Naraku flew alongside the Enact squadron on his Green Frame as they approached the Kurdish border. Unfortunately for the Earth Forces, the ZAFT garrison in the ex-Republic of Krugis were alert and raised the alarm.

Outside the border between Krugis and Syria, a PMC Trust squadron of Enacts and Flags accompanied by Naruto's Brave unit also flew towards the ZAFT garrison base. They flew to the side as ZAFT launched its first attack on the PMC squadron, allowing the Earth Forces to besiege the garrison base. Naruto spotted the Green Frame and ignored it for now until the garrison base will eventually fall.

Naraku on the other hand, focused his targets on the ZAFT GINNs and DINNs deployed from the garrison base. He fired his beam rifle at one of the DINNs, but missed the target. He fired the beam rifle for the second time and hit a nearby GINN in the chest, exploding afterwards. He noticed a black colored Brave unit shooting down at least three DINNs from the sky and aimed its beam rifle at it.

"What's that unit? I've never seen it before," Naraku wondered. He moved away from the main Earth Forces squadron and fired his beam rifle.

"Ensign Shimura! Where are you going?" an Earth Forces officer commanding the Linear Tank asked.

"I need to test this machine against that PMC unit! I don't know what its intentions are, but I must engage it!" Naraku answered back. "Besides, I have an opportunity to acquire combat data from a tough looking machine."

"Very well. You may engage the unknown machine, but be careful." Naraku moved closer towards the Brave. "Looks like we're both amateurs in this new type of warfare, but I have a better edge over you."

"What the? Is that you, Naraku?" Naraku heard Naruto's voice over the comm.

"So we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki. I'm surprised at you for learning how to pilot such a complicated machine, but I'm still superior to you!" Naraku grabbed his beam saber and slammed it against Naruto's own beam saber. "Do you have your own beam saber too? You're just pathetic!"

"Not as pathetic as you will ever be, Naraku!" Naruto kicked Naraku aside and fired his beam rifle back. "Why have you joined the Earth Forces? Are you up to your usual tricks again?"

"Tricks? I beg to differ. Have you at least experienced a near-death experience yet?" Naraku asked again. "Konoha isn't the same when you're alive!"

Naruto growled. "Do you intend to carry out your crazy plans? Would you?"

"I am not at liberty to say anything to you!" Naraku and Naruto clashed blades fiercely. "Abominations like you should be wiped out from the face of the Earth. I can't stand anyone who has an abnormal power, whether it's a bloodline or a jinchuuriki-based strength. People like you are just living weapons for ninja villages. Your lives are not yours to control, so why would you insist that we view you as human?"

"Because I am human!" Naruto snapped back. "Unlike you, I strived for acceptance!"

"Something that will never be achieved because of what you truly are! You refused to accept your proper place in our hierarchy. So what makes you high and mighty, punk?" both combatants fired their beam rifles rapidly. "I can't stand upstarts like you who ruin everything!"

"What have I ruined? What did I do to make you angry this way?" Naruto dodged Naraku's attempt to kick him.

"You spurned grandfather Danzo's orders to accept your fate as Konoha's living weapon and you refused to play along with his plans, insisting on following the flawed ideals of old man Sarutobi. Are you that idealistic to escpae from your harsh life that you've led so far?" Naraku noticed a few Enacts firing their rifles towards him. "I thought we're on the same side against ZAFT!"

"So you've arrived here, even in this world. It's people like you are the reason why we can't have peace in the Elemental Nations. We're going to finish you off right now." Sakura swung towards Naraku, transformed her Enact and clashed blades. "Naruto, just leave this to us. You should help the Earth Forces dislodge ZAFT out of Krugis."

"Roger that," Naruto said as he flew away. Naraku tried to follow the black colored Brave, but Sakura blocked his way. Murakumo joined in the fight as he fired his beam rifle at the Green Frame.

"Holy crap! I didn't know the Earth Forces had recovered one of the other Astray Frames! Who's the punk inside the Green Frame?" Murakumo asked back. He put up his shield to deflect the beam shots from the Green Frame.

"That's one of our old enemies, Murakumo. He's Naraku Shimura, and he hated Naruto a lot," Sakura answered.

Murakumo didn't understood what Sakura talked about, but he wasn't going to let some punk like Naraku to just kill his best employee. Around the Kurdish airspace, ZAFT DINNs dropped their missile upon the hapless Earth Forces units. Naruto and his oponent kept clashing blades at each other fiercely, determined to finish their conflict in either victory or death.

Naraku spotted the approaching Blue Frame as he dodged the beam shots. He fired his beam rifle back, but he was only interested in fighting Naruto, whom he considered as someone unworthy of life. The Green Frame turned its attention back towards the Brave and clashed blades. The black and red Brave transformed into mobile armor mode, forcing Naruto to fly faster, away from the pursuing Green Frame.

The two Enacts started to pursue the Green Frame as Naraku was forced to deal with his additional enemies, allowing Naruto to engage the ZAFT machines. Hotaru joined Naruto in destroying the ZAFT mobile suits that pinned down the Earth Forces advanced units at the border. The invading Earth Forces units surged into the Kurdish heartland with their guns ablaze. Naruto spotted a ZAFT DINN as he fired his beam rifle at the intended target, while Hotaru launched some of the Enact's missiles towards the turret guns ZAFT activated in order to repel any Earth Forces land units.

"These guys won't give up," Naruto told Hotaru.

"I'm not sure why, but we'll make them change their minds when we attack their command post. Where is it?" Hotaru asked back. Naruto didn't know the answer to Hotaru's question. She pushed some buttons as Sakura's face appeared on the screen. "Sakura, we'd better find the command post immediately."

"We're trying to do that, but Naraku insists that Naruto should fight him," Sakura snapped back in frustration. Naraku fired his beam rifle at one of the ZAFT ZuOOTs and exploded.

"Leave Naraku to me. You two go with Murakumo and locate the command post," Naruto ordered. Both women were surprised at his orders. "Go! I'll hold him off."

Naruto and Naraku put away their beam rifles and grabbed their beam sabers as they slammed into each other once again. This time, the Brave leaned back as its GN Tau Drives pointed forward, paused for a minute as Naruto's cockpit shook at the tremendous pressure he placed on the Tau Drives. His Brave kicked back as he fired his beam rifle back at Naraku as the Green Frame lost its shield, but he managed to obliterate the remaining ZAFT mobile suits that haven't been destroyed yet.

"Damn it, what's wrong with me?" Naruto groaned. He panted profusely after he performed such a dangerous stunt with his custom Brave. "I can handle grunt mobile suits, but this machine...it feels unreal."

* * *

**SULAMANIYA, REPUBLIC OF KRUGIS**

* * *

Everywhere around the former Kurdish nation, numerous Earth Forces soldiers patrolled the empty streets while they held their rifles tightly. Naruto and Sakura looked at some of the ruined homes, which were damaged from the last battle. He spotted a dity looking doll on the ground and picked it up as the rest of the Serpent Tail members entered another empty house and set up a machine gun nest. Naruto followed them inside as he tensed up and paused abruptly.

**Flashback:**

_Krugis at the time of the Solar Wars resembled a warzone, with corpses and derelict mobile suits sprawled on the ground. Numerous young kids armed with their pistols ran back into their homes, eager to prove themselves before their instructor and God that they're capable of obeying His absurd command. The screams of dying parents can be heard from the streets, along with the loud shot, erupting from their pistols. _

_"I'm joining this holy war." the young Soran Ibrahim inside his house while he carried a pistol. "I'll be accepted by God as one of his warriors."_

_"We've been worried about you, Soran. What are you doing, Soran?" a man asked fearfully. The young boy who held a gun pulled the trigger as the man fell to the ground and died. Soran's mother turned her gaze towards him cautiously, fearing for her life._

_"Please don't do this, Soran. Why are you doing this?" his mother asked._

_Soran focused his gaze on his mother. He knew he would see his mother alive, for the last time. "I'm going to become God's chosen warrior." He pulled the trigger and his mother fell down to her death, just like his father. Young Soran walked out of his house, now filled with two fresh corpses of his dead parents and joined the younger Ali Al-Saachez along with the other kids who shot their parents. They could now smell the stench of blood and death emitting from their now-forsaken home. All of the child guerrillas knew they wouldn't live any longer once the invading Azadistani forces began to put down the Kurdish resistance groups._

_"Now you've all become warriors of God. He's pleased that you've obeyed His command," Ali said. "Once you've offered your lives to God in battle, you will surely join him in heaven."_

End flashback.

"Naruto?" Sakura shook him. Naruto blinked twice and looked at Sakura. "What's that?"

"I found this dirty doll on the street, Sakura. I came inside, and suddenly I felt something weird. I had one of those visions again, but this time I saw a young kid who-" he struggled to control himself as tears fell from his eyes. "He...he killed his parents."

"You're joking. Are you sure?" the pink haired mercenary asked back.

"I don't know if it was just my imagination, but I felt terrible. The young boy killed his parents as some sort of a sick test, perpetrated by some sick bastard. He's using religion in general as an excuse for such horrible atrocities. It's just like if I'm being ordered by Danzo to kill my own parents if they were still alive." Naruto held the doll tightly. Hotaru noticed her comrades and comforted the sobbing jinchuuriki. "The way I tested Lacus to pick up a weapon was nothing compared to what I've seen in my visions. God, I've m-messed up."

Hotaru patted him in the back. She grabbed him gently and looked at him in the eye. "Naruto, you are not someone who was forced to kill his parents. Your life is your own, although you cannot deny what your ancestor has done in the past. Maybe you've gotten those visions from the past for a reason."

"For a reason? So that I can compare my own life to _his_?" Naruto answered back. "If I've learned something from those visions, it's that I can't deny the memories of the past, whether it's good or bad."

Sakura smiled and took the doll out of Naruto's hands. "At least we're now in the same land where it all started."

"Where _what_ started?" Hotaru said curiously. Murakumo walked into them and began to explain.

"Before Celestial Being appeared on the world stage, the Solar Wars broke out. Within the Solar Wars was the conflict between the Republic of Krugis and the Kingdom of Azadistan. As you may not know, Krugis was annexed by Azadistan but sporadic resistance broke out. One of these resistance groups was the Krugis People's Sovereign Army, or the KPSA for short. The KPSA was notorious for their use of child soldiers, although it wasn't the first time that child soldiers were used by any desperate faction on the losing side. However, I don't know who led the KPSA, to be honest," Murakumo explained. Naraku walked towards them as Naruto grabbed his pistol and pointed it at him. "What the hell are you doing, Naruto?"

"Great minds think alike." Naraku grabbed his combat knife. "Shall we continue where we left off, Uzumaki?"

"Your grandfather was nothing more than a ruthless tyrant who would have forced young children to become killing machines without any remorse!" Naruto snarled. He pulled the trigger, but Naraku dodged his shots. Once he realized that close combat was inevitable, Naruto grabbed the three pronged kunai and clashed blades. "Do you have any idea what you would have done should you continue to strive for Danzo's twisted goal? There would be more suffering and sadness in this world!"

"That's what I'm trying to do, Uzumaki! You and the Uchiha punk are the only ones who'd stand in the way of restoring the Shimura clan's honor! We're all distorted, but that's what makes us a deadly shinobi! Do you remember what the Raikage told you? I was there when you engaged him in combat." Both combatants threw their melee weapons at each other and deflected.

"You jinchuuriki can't run your lives! You're a part of the balance of power and the hidden strength of your villages! You can't just run around and do whatever you want! Know your place, you stupid kids!"

"The Raikage might be wise, but when jinchuuriki are seen as nothing more than living weapons, they'd lose their sense of humanity. My parents' legacy and undying support for my efforts to save the world is how I'm defined. I haven't lost myself to the darkness inside myself, and I don't intend to lose it now!" Naruto snarled back. Unfortunately, the Earth Forces soldiers became aware of Naraku's fight against a Serpent Tail mercenary and eagerly watched the fight. "In that case, I refuse to know my place in this twisted hierarchy!"

Naraku smirked as he picked up his combat knife. "In that case, your proper place should be six feet under. I can't stand anyone who refuses to know their place!"

Both combatants blocked each other's attempts to land a blow with their fists while Naraku kicked Naruto aside. The blond jinchuuriki retaliated by throwing a smoke grenade in order to obstruct his enemy's vision. Naraku couldn't see where Naruto went, allowing him to land a kick on his ribs. Naruto lunged forward with his fist reared back. Fortunately, an Earth Forces officer grabbed the two hostile combatants and separated them before they could continue to kill each other.

"That's enough, you two! Frankly, I'm not pleased to see the two of you beating each other up! Do you two have a death wish or something? Answer me, soldiers!" the officer barked at them. None of the combatants answered back, but a PMC officer approached him and dragged Naruto away from Naraku. "Sir, I caught these two miscreants who tried to kill each other."

"Can't you control your insane soldier, Captain Thomas?" the PMC officer snapped back. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'll deal with Ensign Uzumaki's punishment. Just don't punish him when the PMC Trust officers aren't around."

"Fine, but they must be punished together," Captain Thomas insisted, but the PMC officer shook his head and walked away while he dragged Naruto by the arm.

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

* * *

After the ZAFT exercise's purpose to capture the masked Gundams from Celestial Being failed, the main branch became idle when no new missions appeared on their computer terminal. In order to make better use of their time, the Meisters supervised the repairs of their Gundams while Reena and her bridge crew discussed the recent events that happened in the desert. They're currently talking to Fon over a secured channel. Demetrius Vashti spotted Leonard Fiennes in the background as he and Revive helped Kira with the Strike's repairs.

"It's just as I've said it before. Leo and Revive appeared out of nowhere, and I don't know who ordered them to rescue us. I'm quite grateful for their help, but the fact that Revive has caused this organization some headaches before doesn't help much," Fon explained.

Reena sighed. "You're right, Fon. Although I don't know much about what happened over two millenia ago, your instincts and analysis on other people are the reason why Celestial Being continues to survive.

Fon snorted. "I've learned to be observant from Prince Ali himself."

"True. Anyways, we'll deliver the goods in a few days, so you'd better pass this message that I am about to send to you towards your Captain. I'm sure the Archangel would love to get their hands on a GN based mobile suit." Reena saw Tieria enter her room. "Erde boy here isn't comfortable sending out our machines, but I've managed to make him reconsider. Besides, the more help we send to our future allies, the better. Heck, if something were to happen to me, I'd nominate the Archangel's captain to be my successor."

"I don't mean to be rude, Reena, but would you be creeped out if your successor turns out to be exactly like Miss Sumeragi? For all we know, she'd be even more uptight than Chall," Fon said sarcastically. He spotted Tieria in the background and waved goodbye as the comm was cut off.

Reena turned around as Tieria gave a report. "It appears that ZAFT has captured one of our abandoned resource satellites."

"Oh, my. Is it really bad? Perhaps we should go and recover it before anyone else notices it," Reena said as she maintained her calm posture. "Does the said resource satellite have anything of importance?"

"Just one." Tieria typed on the keyboard as an unfamiliar picture of a Gundam appeared. "This prototype was dubbed Omega, and the blueprints were left behind, just before we conducted our first armed intervention in over two thousand years. Now it's in ZAFT's hands, and I can only imagine what will happen if ZAFT has somehow built it."

Reena scoffed lightly. "Don't worry about it, Tieria. There are problems ZAFT will encounter about the prototype. One: they don't have an access to a GN Drive technology, and its main components. Two: they don't know where to get the proper materials needed to build such a mobile suit, as all of the resources they've acquired from our abandoned resource satellite are needed for their war efforts. Finally, ZAFT doesn't have a suitable pilot capable of piloting it."

"Still, this isn't a joke, Reena! We have to recover the resource satellite-" Tieria protested, but a new message popped out of the screen as Reena's expression hardened. "Reena?"

"Well, well. It looks like we don't have to worry about the prototype falling into wrong hands. Patrick Zala and the Defense Committee has been notified of the change of events and even Commander Rau Le Creuset's volunteered to oversee the construction of our prototype, alongside two new models that will be completed soon enough. If we're lucky, we can snag those new ZAFT built machines and our completed prototype in one swoop." Reena ignored Tieria's complaints. "Did we only have the Omega prototype designed, or was there another machine?"

Tieria paused for a minute after Reena asked her question. Even inside VEDA's databanks, Tieria didn't receive more prototypes other than the currently completed masked Gundams and the Omega prototype. In fact, he only studied those machines in inception long after Setsuna's return from the ELS world, and the upgraded 00 QanT had ELS characteristics on them. He began to tap his forehead with his finger as Reena waited for his answer.

"I'm sure we had a mobile suit to complement the Omega. The prototype for such a machine was rumored to have never made it to paper, but I guess someone had extra time on his or her hands and designed it." Tieria's eyes widened. "Please don't tell me the other prototype was in the captured resource satellite."

"Oh no, I forgot. There were two prototype blueprints in that resource satellite, not just one. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? It could mean that if ZAFT builds two of our prototypes plus two other models, they're most likely going to be assigned to the Le Creuset team, don't you think?" Reena deduced. She sighed and accompanied Tieria out of her room and into the conference room. Regene and Hixar joined them a minute later, just after accompanying Leif back into his cell. "We have a problem."

"Ditto. We've also learned about another visitor in VEDA besides me and Tieria. She's been a lot helpful in sorting out corrupted files on the hard drive, non stop and to top it off, she knows about Revive's whereabouts," Regene said.

"Wait a minute. Anew Returner's inside VEDA right now?" Hixar asked curiously. "With Leif inside this ship, who knows what will happen if they meet."

"She's not yet ready to come back to this world yet, but we're preparing a body for her. She can be both corporeal and holographic, but her restraints that were placed by Ribbons are gone. I just hope we won't have to place an explosive necklace on her neck. Anew can be our undercover agent for ZAFT, and seduce a ZAFT pilot in the process," Regene answered back, but Tieria glared at him angrily. "What?"

"You didn't like what Ribbons Almark was doing, and yet what you've suggested about her usefulness meant that we're no better than him," Tieria snapped. Reena elbowed Tieria in the ribs as she grinned mischeviously.

"He didn't say that she'd hijack a mobile suit and betray her comrades. Regene only spoke of Anew's new role in our conflict, but I understand about your feelings towards your twin's scenario. It's similar to Lockon Stratos's heartbreak all over again, but whose heart would Miss Returner break this time?" she summarized. "Tieria, you've gotten to loosen up. The stress will kill you if you don't relax."

"Reena, I'm an Innovade and a hologram. I'm a part of VEDA, which means that I'll simply have another body to prepare," Tieria said defensively.

Regene chuckled. "Should I tell Anew to delete you from VEDA, Tieria?"

"Hell no!" Tieria snapped, but the other Meisters laughed lightly.

* * *

**CAPTURED CELESTIAL BEING RESOURCE SATELLITE**

* * *

Patrick Zala and a few of his escorts superwalked inside the resource satellite ZAFT had captured earlier, just before their failed attempt to capture the masked Gundams. Le Creuset carried a suitcase, which kept the blueprints of mobile suits inside. Three technicians analyzed the hangar where the Gundams conducted their tests while a squad of ZAFT soldiers chatted amongst themselves as they waited for their leader to arrive. All of the personnel saluted as Zala arrived.

"How's the analysis going? Any new developments yet?" Zala asked one of the technicians, who shook his head.

"Nothing important so far, Your Excellency. We've only analyzed the hangar so far. The rest of the resource satellite is empty, except for an online journal our comrades have recovered. I believe you should take a look at the contents, sir." the technician gave Zala a disk that contained the online journal. Zala passed the disk to Le Creuset as he walked away. "Commander Creuset, you'd better insert it on one of the computers around here."

"I thought this place was empty," Zala wondered. "Are you withholding any critical information from me?"

"No, sir. It's just that we haven't explored the other areas yet." The technician grew nervous as he began to shake. "Still, we'd better look at the contents of the disk we've recovered."

He inserted the disk inside the slot as the data showed itself. Zala and Le Creuset gasped at the contents as it showed an old picture of the 00 Raiser during a test drive, and its subsequent release of GN Particles. An image of the GN Archer docked safely with the Arios appeared as Le Creuset noticed its skill in combat, but its operational time was limited.

"What you're carrying inside the suit case, Commander, is the two new prototypes Celestial Being has come up with, but we're lucky to have acquired it. I'm sure we'll be able to build those machines in no time." Zala shook his head. "Your Excellency?"

"We don't know how to build a solar furnace. We won't waste resources on building a mobile suit that could only run on a solar furnace. Granted, we may be able to build two mobile suits with nuclear engines on them, but we haven't come up with an idea to combat the N-Jammers yet," Zala replied back. He pointed his finger at the two GN Drives on the 00 Raiser and continued to explain. "Lenore and I may have limited knowledge on Celestial Being's technology, but at least we're familiar with their tendency to keep the GN technology a secret. It's a miracle that the Earth Forces has no access to this precious Pandora's Box. I would only imagine what will happen to us if the barbaric Naturals have acquired this dangerous weapon. As of today, what has been discussed here will never leave this satellite base."

* * *

All right, readers. Next chapter will be the Archangel's journey to the Indian Ocean, but I had to devote this chapter mostly on Naruto's acquisition of the Brave Command Test Type. It won't get upgraded yet until the Serpent Tail aids the Archangel and arrives at Orb with them. I've also mentioned of a possible introduction to two new Gundams that are going to be based on Wing Zero-00 Raiser and Epyon-Susanoo, so it may be debuted.

Also, I'm planning a Code Geass rewrite, but I mostly had to devote to numerous research on how the story will go, because for the rewrite it will be Britannia's rivalry with Russia and I had to create the characters too. The Britannians are still gonna be based on corrupt Earth Federation from the UC series while the Black Knights and Japan would be Code Geass's version of Zeon and Neo Zeon. Finally, the Russian faction will entirely be based on Gundam Wing's OZ and White Fang. There are some references to Gundam Wing in the Russian faction.

Infinite Stratalia World Academy will continue, but I haven't watched Infinite Stratos lately. The 00V: Rising Angel will continue too, but I have to focus on getting this fic done first. Masked Castaway, I could continue it, or I may simply rewrite it as a pure 00 fic, where Andrei plays the role of a mentor to a mixed Filipino-Russian boy from the Super Soldier Institute, and the Philippines along with Australia and New Zealand would be under the Human Reform League.

Finally, I have an account too, so I've also devoted some extra time on making a few threads, and my main project is AH Challenge: Russian controlled Pan-Malay State or just the Philippines. The thread I'm making is essential for my Code Geass story too. So until then, please take note that I may add the new Blood Prison movie into this fic. 00 the Movie will be released in English on Tuesday.

Also, what do you think about Madara's new Six Paths of Pain? It's definitely creepy and Utakata has both Sharingan and Rinnegan eyes along with the other jinchuuriki. I mean, with the bangs on the back, it's no wonder why I threw in a Gundam 00 reference to Utakata looking like Allelujah/Hallelujah.


	17. Blood Soaked Sea

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 or Gundam SEED.

Just to let you know, I'll skip the part where Cagalli and Athrun met each other on the uninhabited island and replace it with the scenes from Krugis.

* * *

**_Turn Seventeen: Blood Soaked Sea_**

The Archangel sailed above the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. The crew who went outside the deck were fascinated by the dolphins which swam alongside the ship and the sharks would go on and hunt for their next meal. Kira and Cagalli spotted Fon watching an octopus swimming underneath and joined him.

"Isn't the octopus the most beautiful animal in the world?" Fon started to talk, though Cagalli looked at him as if he lost his mind. "Hey, at least there is someone who wouldn't consider having the octopus turned into dinner."

"You say the weirdest things. I wonder if you've overslept in your so-called chamber for the last two millennia," Cagalli replied back.

"Heh. Let's just say that I'm starting to adjust to this crazy world. Oh, by the way, there is no sea monsters except for ZAFT underwater suits." Fon grinned after Miriallia teased Kuzzey on the mysteries of the ocean.

"Oh well. Kira's just moping by himself on the other side of the deck, and I don't know what's wrong with him. I don't know why would he join the Alliance if he's a coordinator. Doesn't he feel guilty of betraying his own people?" Cagalli continued to talk.

Fon shrugged. "Kira has a good heart, but he's not the type of guy to discriminate against anybody, although Flay's the one with a prejudiced mindset with regards to coordinators." Flay walked towards them from the door. "Hiya, Flay. What are you up to today? I'd like to jump down into the sea and catch some fish."

Flay giggled. "Robert, I don't think we have any fishing equipment onboard."

"That kinda sucks. Still, I'm surprised that you've changed a little bit from the first time I've met you. Deep down, you're just a troubled woman who needs someone to support you. Heck, if your father was around, I'm sure he and I would love to talk a lot of things. Just relax and enjoy this scenery while we-" Fon turned to Miriallia and her friends. "-can. We're not really doing anything foolish."

Onboard the Vosgulov-class submarine carrier Cousteau, a ZAFT commander watched a video message from Le Creuset. Behind Marco Morassim, several ZAFT crew continuously gave their reports on any visual detected in the area. Alex was also present in the video message, although her facial expression didn't seem to match her enthusiasm for a new mission, having been denied a chance to join in the ZAFT defenders in the former Krugis Republic.

"I'll come down to Earth for Operation Spitbreak, but in case you didn't know yet, Commander Morassim, the Earth Alliance has captured our Middle Eastern forward base. I'm sure you'll be interested to hear about a new PMC Trust mobile suit they deployed," Le Creuset explained. "On the other hand, I regret to hear the death of Commander Waltfeld. I should have never let the legged ship land on Earth."

Morassim scoffed. "Do I look like a junior cadet to you, Creuset? I know what's going on. Your subordinate isn't happy that she's stuck with you."

"On the contrary, Commander Morassim, you'd be wise to watch your mouth. You're criticizing a White Coat," Alex snapped back. Morassim raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Of course I'm angry. Axis gets to join in the fun in Krugis while I'm stuck in the Rock, waiting for my next deployment. Oh, and by the way, the top brass is displeased that we couldn't retrieve the remains of the destroyed relic."

"Relic? Now why haven't I been informed of an unknown mobile suit before?" Morassim asked back.

Le Creuset stepped in to defuse the tension. "We'll need your help in destroying the legged ship. Just to make things better for you, we'll send the Aker team to help you."

"Oh, not her, I suppose. Axis Aker as the commander of his own team? It's about time the high echleons promoted that poor bastard." Morassim shut off the video message after Le Creuset saluted to him. He sighed in frustration and turned to his subordinates. "We have a new mission, and we'll wait for reinforcements from Banadiya to arrive."

"Yes, sir."

A few hours later, the Cousteau received another video message. This time, Axis appeared on the screen as he saluted to Morassim from inside his cockpit of the Susanoo. He made sure the GN Tau Drive didn't jam the communication equipment for this very precise moment.

"Commander Axis Aker reporting for duty, what can I do for you, Commander Morassim?" Axis said.

"I'm sure Commander Creuset told you of your mission. Our target is the legged ship, and I'm sure your experience will come in handy because we have to destroy it. I understand if most of your experiences towards the legged ship were...a bit disastrous," Morassim spoke back politely, but Axis understood well what he really meant.

"I know. We constantly failed to destroy the legged ship, but I'm sure you have the advantage since the legged ship doesn't have any mobile suits suitable for underwater combat. Unfortunately, none of our machines are also suitable for underwater combat, so our assistance is limited," Axis admitted. "Still, the legged ship does possess the last Earth Forces mobile suit, as well as other machines that recently joined up."

"In that case, I'll have to delegate the task of destroying the legged ship to you, Commander Aker." Morassim clapped Axis in the back. "You'll also have to take charge of when we launch the operation because you outrank me by a few colors."

Axis returned to the digital map on the table and studied the location of the Archangel for ten minutes. He took notes on the ZAFT bases in the area, along with territories that the Earth Forces didn't retake yet. He kept on traching his finger between the desert and the Red Sea on the map, until he made an imaginary circle around the spot where he'd lay a trap for the white ship. At the same time, one of the ZAFT crew aboard the Vosgulov told Axis about the status of the new solar powered machine that was sighted in Krugis.

"A new machine? Let me guess, it's a PMC mobile suit, right?" Axis asked back.

The crew member nodded. "Yes, sir. Apparently, it can transform into a mobile armor and it looks like one of the old Flag fighters the Atlantic Federation deployed when they fought us back in Carpentaria before we captured it."

"It must be the old Brave. The Brave Commander Type." Axis grabbed the picture of the Brave, but his eyes widened when he saw the picture of the Brave again. "Wait a minute, that isn't the same mobile suit from the ones deployed in the ELS conflict."

"Apparently they've upgraded it to add one more GN Drive to increase its speed. They've also painted the Brave with black and orange colors, and there's a swirling whirpool as an insignia or something," he answered back. "Still, we have the advantage over the legged ship, despite the fact that ZAFT's presence in the Indian Ocean is not as big as in the Pacific."

"That's what makes the hunt more interesting. Unfortunately, the rest of my team had to go back to Gibraltar for more supplies before they can rejoin me," Axis replied back. He turned to his team members. "Be prepared to launch in 1800 hrs."

"Yes, sir!".

"I'll launch in the Susanoo. Have those two DINNs launch out on a recon mission." Axis ran into the corridor as he took off his jacket. He arrived at the hangar five minutes later in his flight gear and jumped on the Susanoo's cockpit. His mobile suit walked towards the catapult along with two purple colored aerial mobile suits. "Axis Aker, Susanoo, launching!"

Axis and the two DINN pilots launched out of the Vosgulov after the submarine carrier surfaced. The Aker team commander notified Morassim the Archangel's location. At the same time, the Archangel began to activate its weapons systems as all of its crew rushed down to their battle stations after the alarm rang. Revive, Fon and Leonard ran towards the hangar while Kira caught up with them.

"Fon Spaak, Astrea. Launching!"

"Leo Sieg, GRM Gundam, taking off!"

The two old Gundams took off from the Archangel and were fired on by the two DINNs. The Susanoo fired its GN Cannon towards the GRM, forcing Leo to dodge the shot while Fon fired his beam rifle. Axis grabbed his GN Swords and slammed it at the Astrea's shield. Fon responded by allowing the Susanoo to slam the Astrea into the water with the sword strike, enabling Fon to move closer towards the water. His wyes widened at the sight of two ghoulish looking underwater mobile suits.

"Son of a bitch! Hey, Archangel! I'd better send the data on your new underwater enemies." Fon typed the keyboard as he sent the information on the mobile suit he had just spotted. "They're definitely not Trilobytes for sure."

"Did you just say there are underwater mobile suits?" Natarle asked back aghastly. _So much for the element of surprise on our part._

Murrue then asked Fon after Natarle began to give orders. "What kind of underwater mobile suits?"

"Uhh...they're ugly looking for sure, and they can fire torpedoes," Fon answered back.

"That doesn't help us a bit, Mr. Stad!" Murrue replied back angrily, but she saw the Susanoo and Morassim's DINN surround the Astrea. She grabbed the phone and contacted Revive. "Mr. Revival, can you please confirm the unknown mobile suits Mr. Stad had described earlier."

Revive smiled and spoke back, "Captain Ramius, they're classified as GOOhNs. Fon Spaak was right, those mobile suits _are_ ugly-looking," Revive answered back. The Gadessa fired its GN Vulcans at the nearest DINN, but it simply dodged the shots. Suddenly, Revive's radar began to beep as his mouth opened wide after he read the incoming message from an undisclosed location. "Captain Ramius, I have to go somewhere. There's an unidentified mobile suit at the location I'm about to give you."

The Gadessa sped away from the battlefield while the Susanoo clashed blades with the Astrea. The Strike had a hard time shooting down the GOOhNs underwater, even as Kira retrieved the bazooka after his beam rifle was destroyed. Moreover, Kira had already jumped into the ocean, despite the Strike's inability to function underwater.

"Key, Kira! What's the big deal? Are you that crazy to jump underwater to take on an underwater mobile suit? Man, I wish I've been more like you." Fon blocked the Susanoo's sword strike with his beam saber. "What's with your machine, bucket head? Too skinny to endure the pain?"

"I've battled faster machines than yours. However, I'll take you down today," Axis said. "I assume that you'd be much more of a challenge than the Strike."

"Why? Is it because my machine has a GN Drive? C'mon, you samurai-obsessed freak, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Fon fired his beam rifle again, but this time one of the DINNs was shot down. "That's one DINN shot down. One more to go, and I'll send you on a one way ticket to your own graveyard!"

Axis put away his GN Swords and used the GN Cannon again. Fon dodged the shot from the Susanoo's cannon, but Morassim snuck up behind him. The DINN fired its rifle at the Astrea, point blank, yet the Astrea remained intact. Under the ocean, Kira aimed his bazooka at the GOOhN, but the enemy machine dodged before he could fire. The GOOhN rammed itself into the white mobile suit, knocking the bazooka out of the Strike's hands. Kira grabbed his Armor Schneider knife and plunged the short blade into the GOOhN, exploding after it compressed.

On the surface, Morassim and Mu kept on shooting at each other as the DINN kept on missing its target. Morassim began to get frustrated at the slow pace his team took to sink the Archangel. His rifle was knocked out of his hand as it sank into the ocean, allowing Mu to damage the DINN's side wing. Morassim turned on his comm and contacted Axis.

"Commander Aker." Morassim heard an explosion from below the ocean, indicating that another GOOhN was shot down by the Strike, using the rifle of the dead DINN. "Commander Aker!"

"What is it?" Axis asked curiously.

"We need to pull back. Our GOOhN team is destroyed," Morassim replied back. Axis nodded and the two machines flew away from the Archangel. "Now I know why even Le Creuset and Waltfeld failed to bring the legged ship down. They're resilient, and they have two extra mobile suits that we didn't know about."

* * *

**UNKNOWN LOCATION**

* * *

Revive arrived at what appeared to be a base for the mass driver that belonged to an organization. His mobile suit landed on the tarmac as two GN Cannons were being prepared for deployment, but the crew on the ground still waited for the receiver to take the extra machines given by Celestial Being. The Innovade suspected that Celestial Being was being grateful to the Archangel for its help and decided to reward them with extra mobile suits. Another mobile suit stood among the GN Cannons as its purple color scheme reminded Revive of the time an unnamed Innovade used it for its armed interventions.

"1.5 Gundam, what's it doing here?" Revive asked himself before one of the crew sent a message to his mobile suit. He read the message. "The 1 Gundam sent by Celestial Being is to be delivered to Morgenroette Inc. in the Orb Union. I'm surprised Celestial Being is even sharing its secrets with anyone who isn't a member."

Lowe Guele approached him with the Red Frame. "I see you've taken a liking to these new mobile suits. We already know who's the sender, right?"

"Yeah. Anyways, the white ship should be approaching this base in around four hours. You'd better have a good excuse as to why you have a couple of weird looking machines in the middle of the ocean," Revive answered back. "I'm not sure if Fon Spaak and Leo Sieg would join me back in space. The mass driver does take the ships back to space, right?"

"Of course, it does. We're going to send something up there anyways. Our competitors the Serpent Tail must be excited to take part in the construction of new mobile suits in the future, and I should have joined up with those Celestial whatever." the Red Frame lifted the crater into the ship. "Reena filled me in on the details. I guess Chairman Zala has gotten his hands on a valuable treasure trove."

"However, Reena Carmine told Fon Spaak that Chairman Zala would have a problem building the prototype mobile suit. Moreover, we also have to upgrade or take down the masked mobile suits and upgrade them to a more, battle ready Gundam. The Gundams' Trans-Am system is locked right now, and a password is needed to unlock it. I'm not going to tell you the password, and even if I did, you wouldn't be able to unlock it because only an Innovade can enter the password and be granted access to the Trans-Am System." Revive helped Lowe with loading of the supplies.

It took Revive and Lowe to load the remaining supply crates into the freight ship while the new mobile suits remained immobile. Even when it became dark, they still loaded the remaining supply crates. It wasn't until the next morning that the base itself spotted the Archangel sailing closer towards the Junk Guild base did Revive contacted the Archangel.

"I'm sure they'll know the contents of the goods." Revive waited until Murrue appeared on the screen. "Hello, Captain Ramius."

"Mr. Revival, I would like you to explain as to why you were gone for a lot longer," Murrue spoke back. She paused for a moment when Revive showed her the pictures of the two GN Cannons and the 1.5 Gundam. "So that's the goods Celestial Being promised to deliver to us. What would we do with the Skyscraper then?"

Revive simply grinned. "It could still be used, although we're trying to upgrade the GN Cannons to accept the Striker Packs so they can reload the weapon systems into the Strike. However, it would be a lot difficult to do so."

"I see. In that case, we'd better hurry up and get closer towards you because two GOOhNs just appeared behind us, along with an unknown machine. Mr. Stad and Ensign Yamato are busy engaging the mobile suits," Murrue replied back.

"Of course. I'll come by and help you then," Revive replied back and hung up. He turned to Lowe and said, "I have to go towards the legged ship. They're fighting those underwater machines again."

Lowe grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "You got it, bro. Do what you can, and I'll guide the white ship in here."

The Gadessa took off from the Junk Guild base and sped off into the ocean. Revive spotted the Astrea shooting down a transport plane while the Strike went underwater once again, with the sword on its hands. He aimed at the nearest GOOhN and fired the GN Launcher, but the underwater mobile suit dodged the shot.

"Tch. Even this machine missed its target?" Revive growled. He saw what appeared to be small torpedoes launched from an unknown location as the Archangel took off from the ocean. "There! Over on that side!"

He continued to fire his GN Launcher, but kept missing. Fon fired his beam rifle at the surfaced GOOhNs at the same time the Archangel fired its Valiant cannon. The two GOOhNs kept on dodging the shots and fired back. Ten minutes later, two Skygraspers took off from the Archangel with Mu piloting the Skygrasper equipped with the Launcher pack.

"Hey girl, just keep an eye out for the puppy. I wouldn't want you to get shot down just because you were a bit distracted," Mu reminded Cagalli, much to her discomfort. She silently nodded, but grumbled at the same time. Suddenly, the Vosgulov carrier surfaced as Mu fired the launcher at the sub carrier, destroying it just after two DINNs and the Susanoo launched. "Son of a bitch! The sub carrier has deployed that samurai skeleton suit!"

Everyone inside the bridge froze in horror. Murrue spoke after she got over her initial shock. "Could you say it again, Commander La Flaga?"

"I said, there's the samurai skeleton suit! It has those solar reactors, so Mr. Stad should engage it," Mu replied back.

Fon nodded and grinned. "I'm on it." He aimed his beam rifle at the Susanoo, but it dodged the shot. Axis grabbed his GN Swords again and slammed it against the Astrea's shield, but Fon shoved him aside. "Hey buddy, nice suit."

"I'm here to finish the legged ship off, and you're in the way," Axis said. He combined the GN Swords together to create a swordstaff and swung it towards the Astrea, knocking it off balance. "You may be a bit more challenging, but I'm not going to be satisfied with this fight."

"Figures, you're looking for a stronger opponent. Unfortunately, you'll have to make do with me and my mobile suit." Fon grabbed his beam saber and slammed it at the Susanoo's sword staff.

* * *

**EARTH FORCES EURASIAN FEDERATION BASE**

**SULAMANIYA, REPUBLIC OF KRUGIS**

* * *

Five more Braves had landed in the tarmac on the outskirts of the Kurdish Republic after sundown. The ground crew there shouted out orders to move the newly arrived mobile suits into the hangar so the technicians can analyze and work on improving them. Naruto's custom Brave parked inside another hangar, along with some old Flags and Enacts kept in storage in case they might need it on the battlefield. By next morning, the five Brave Standard types along with the custom Brave Commander Type were back on the tarmac as the pilots were going to test them in a simulation battle.

"All right, Uzumaki. You're cleared for take off," the air traffic controller notified the blond jinchuuriki.

"Roger that. Naruto Uzumaki, Brave Commander Type, taking off!" Naruto took off from the airfield and into the sky as the rest of the Serpent Tail crew followed him soon after. "What's the simulation battle about?"

"You'll spar the Green Frame in a mock combat, but I don't want you two to kill each other," an Earth Forces officer answered back instead. "We're also here to take notes on the Brave's capabilities. Just be careful, young man."

"All right, but I won't be able to keep that promise," Naruto grimaced. He spotted the Green Frame flying towards them as Naraku fired his beam rifle. Naruto responded by blocking the Green Frame's shot as he gave out an order. "Solbrave Squad, assume formation Sigma, Zeta and Theta!"

The standard Braves flew behind their Commander Type counterpart as the Green Frame attempted to block any shot with its shield, but Naruto flew faster towards Naraku. He transformed into mobile suit mode and jumped back, allowing the rest of the standard Braves to open fire on him. Naraku dodged the beam shots, but soon found himself clashing blades with Murakumo. Naraku lept back before Hotaru could deliver a blow at his back, but Sakura fired her beam rifle in order to throw him off balance. Elijah grabbed his beam saber and attempted to cut off the Green Frame's leg, but Naraku kicked the beam saber out of his hand. He shoved Murakumo aside and lunged towards Naruto, who grabbed his own beam saber and clashed blades fiercely.

"You're pretty good for a lowlife jinchuuriki," Naraku growled. "All the more reason why I should kill you!"

"I'll say the same thing to you!" Naruto yelled back angrily. They continued their own swordfight until the Green Frame fired the beam rifle again. This time, Naruto blocked the shot with its GN Field.

"Hey, you two! You're supposed to be sparring, not beating each other to death!" the Earth Forces officer snapped back at the two angry pilots, but to no avail. "Dammit, where the hell is Murakumo?"

Murakumo spoke back over the comm. "What is it?"

"Break off the sparring session. It's clear to me that those two punks would never learn to get along. The way they fight, it's not going to end well," the officer replied back grimly. The Blue Frame intervened to stop the Green Frame and Naruto's Brave unit from damaging each other. "Since Uzumaki is a PMC officer, I can't legally rebuke him without having to suffer some sort of repercussions, but I will reprimand Ensign Shimura on his reckless behavior. However, it would be inevitable for those two to find ways to kill each other. So I may have to request for the PMCs to go elsewhere. We no longer need your help after what those two punks pulled today."

Naruto landed on the hangar and stormed off after he reentered the building, with Hotaru and Murakumo following him. He went inside his room and locked it, not wanting to talk to anyone after he and Naraku were perilously close to killing each other. Elijah volunteered to send Naruto's portions to his room as he still refused to eat in the cafeteria with the other soldiers of the Earth Forces and the PMC Trust. It was not until the next day when Sakura accompanied Dmitri Smirnov into Naruto's room did the blond jinchuuriki finally stepped out.

"Are you here to reprimand me again?" Naruto asked suspiciously, but Dmitri shook his head.

"I heard about your fight against Ensign Shimura and many of us weren't happy with the incident at all. However, we didn't come here to tell you how wrong it was to kill each other. I'm here because we're sending the rest of the Brave units in exchange for allowing us to keep the Blue Frame." Murakumo arrived in front of Naruto's room and glared at Dmitri for suggesting that he give up his mobile suit. "Bear in mind that the Blue Frame can't be upgraded to include a GN Drive, even if we can do it, because we need the Blue Frame for research purposes only."

"So I have to give up the mobile suit I picked up at Heliopolis in exchange for a similar Brave unit to what Naruto is piloting right now. I don't know how my employees back at the Serpent Tail would react to the loss of the Blue Frame," Murakumo admitted.

Dmitri chuckled. "Just tell them that you've received an upgrade to a GN Drive based mobile suit, which can also use Trans-Am. Your squad has until tomorrow to fly over to the Archangel's current location. Apparently, there's also a pilot who was shot down over the Indian Ocean." Dmitri turned around and walked away.

The next morning, all of the PMC Brave units slowly moved from the hangar into the runway of the airfield. Naruto took off first, followed by Murakumo who reluctantly left the Blue Frame behind, then Elijah, Sakura and Kotaru was the last one to leave the runway. Murakumo gave Naruto the coordinates of the Archangel and told him where to fly, and which airspace they should avoid. The journey took five hours as they continued to fly without taking a break. They also didn't have to worry about running out of fuel as the GN Tau Drives allowed their unit to fly a bit longer than the regular Enact.

"I'm sure we'll locate the Archangel eventually. If the ship's sunk, ZAFT would have celebrated their victory even before we arrived in Krugis," Murakumo admitted.

Hotaru spotted something on her radar. "Hold on, I'm getting something on my radar."

"What is it? Is it an enemy unit?" Sakura asked back aghastly.

"I'm not sure." Hotaru watched as Naruto sped ahead of his group. "Hold on, Naruto!"

"I just need you to give me the coordinates. I'll go check it out and come back with some news after I found it." Naruto's Brave flew beyond the Indian Ocean airspace. He turned his mobile suit rightwards and spotted what appeared to be a white ship. He gasped in excitement and flew back towards his wingmates. "I found the Archangel!"

"Where?" Elijah asked curiously.

"Southeast of the island of Sri Lanka, or whatever it's called. Follow me." Naruto led his squad, but he went too fast for them to caught up. He stopped in the middle of the sky after he transformed the Brave into its mobile suit mode. By the time his squad caught up with him, they rejoined him and contacted the Archangel. "Archangel, Archangel, do you copy?"

Inside the Archangel, Sai Argyle clutched on his headphones. "Ma'am, it appears that one of the unknown pilots is trying to contact us. I'll patch him to you."

Murrue nodded and grabbed the phone. "This is Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the Archangel. Who are you, and which regiment are you from?"

"Oh great. This is Ensign Naruto Uzumaki of the PMC Trust. Apparently we've been sent to help you after an incident in Krugis, so what can we do for you?" Naruto replied back.

"It's a good thing PMC has sent your squad to help us. You see, we lost one of our pilots after another battle against the ZAFT naval forces deployed from the Red Sea. Unfortunately, we don't have any more room to store your mobile suits as we already have five mobile suits stored inside," Murrue admitted. "Although it would be nice if your squad would fly towards Orb."

"Orb, huh? Well, that might be a great idea," Elijah agreed.

* * *

**OUTER SPACE**

* * *

A Nazca-class warship with five GINNs moved through the debris left behind from their battle against an Earth Forces vessel protecting another resource satellite. The ZAFT mobile suits entered the resource satellite and one of the pilots discovered an abandoned factory. She notified her comrades, who relayed the message to the Nazca warship. Ten minutes later, the Nazca warship arrived at the resource satellite and sent the technicians inside. The pilots met up with the technicians and guided them into the abandoned factory.

"So what do you think? An abandoned factory in the middle of space? We should tell Chairman Clyne about this immediately," Shiho Hahnenfuss spoke first.

"Hahnenfuss, we don't know what kind of factory is this. For all we know, the old Federation may have used this place to mass produce their own machines before the ELS destoyed everything. Or it can be one of Celestial Being-" another pilot spoke back, but Shiho cut him off.

"We still have to know what kind of mobile suits this factory produced." Shiho pryed the door open as she flew inside and whistled at the sight of unused mobile suit parts and an uncompleted machine of what appeared to be a GN-XIV. "Guys! You've got to see this! I believe we may have found a treasure trove that could turn the war in our favor."

The GINNs and Shiho's CGUE DEEP Arms cleaned up the debris around the unused factory while the techinicians grabbed any disks that floated around. After they finished with the clean up, one of the technicians activated the lights and the factory slowly came back to life. Three GINNs dragged the unfinished GN-XIV out of the factory and back towards the Nazca warship as Shiho accompanied the technicians out of the factory. Upon arriving back in the Nazca warship, Shiho and her squad stood in the bridge with the ZAFT commander reviewing the contents of the disks the technicians recovered.

"We need to station more forces into this factory. There's no doubt the Earth Forces would want to retake this factory, especially if they're desperate to create their own mobile suits to counter our machines," Shiho suggested after her commander finished looking at its contents.

"You may be right, Commander Hahnenfuss, but the Defense Committee is busy planning Spitbreak. I can't guarantee that your squad will guard the factory by yourselves, but should we win the next operation, then we'll have enough forces to guard the factories and even create similar ones back in the homeland," the ZAFT commander replied back. "However, we must not notify Chairman Zala about this factory. I wouldn't dream of what he'll do once he learns about our discovery."

* * *

Oh god. First time to write back from a long hiatus, and I'm not sure if I still have enough imagination to complete this fic. Aside from watching AMVs, I have an Alternate History TL projects to do in order to use it for my future Code Geass and Gundam 00 fics. I've also got to complete Infinite Stratalia as well, and even I may not be able to keep up with the enthusiasm became of a few things, mainly school, work, and Alterate History TLs. Since I'm mostly at school, I don't even have enough time to write one chapter. In this case, I may need some extra help with this fic, or I may have to bite the bullet and let someone else continue this. I hate to admit this, but I'm slowly phasing out my interest for the Naruto anime (the way it's going, I doubt I'll like the ending) and moving gradually towards the mecha genre and Hetalia.

So if you got any questions, please PM me. I will do my best to address the problems you have, but since this is the first chapter that I've completed in a very long time, expect some mistakes. Yes, I'm trying my best to fix it but I have to refresh myself in those animes. Unfortunately, this is also one of my shortest chapters that I've done. You can also PM me if you want to continue this fic.


	18. Repeating History

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Gundam SEED or even Gundam 00.

Hey readers! It's been a while since I've updated on this fic, but the reason why I've got a huge delay is because of school, and other plans for future fics. Also, the Naruto Shippuden anime and manga are constantly updated, which also included the two Madaras and a new filler girl named Shizuka.

* * *

**_Turn Eighteen: Repeating History_**

Patrick Zala was surprised after one of his subordinates gave him a report on an abandoned space factory somewhere in the Lagrange area. He read its contents and asked the ZAFT Defense Committee to arrive in his office for an emergency meeting. Once the Purple Coat echleons arrived in Zala's office, he began the meeting by displaying the images of the abandoned factories and beside it was an image of a mobile suit in a blueprint. The reactions of these echleons to the report was astounding, with only three purple Coats expressed their frustration at what seemed to be a pointless report.

"Would you kindly please tell us what's the significance of the abandoned factory a ZAFT officer found in the middle of space?" a Purple Coat named Owen Hahnenfuss asked aghastly. "While the Earth Forces are currently distracted by the legged ship and its PMC partners, ZAFT is using some of its resources for useless adventures. Can you please tell us why?"

Zala glanced at Owen Hahnenfuss curiously. Many other Purple Coats nodded in agreement, forcing the ZAFT Defense Chairman to come up with an excuse or to just simply tell the truth. However, if he told them what his plans for those space factories really were, then he'd face the risk of impeachment. So he decided to allow one of his aides to hand the copies of the ZAFT officer's report.

"These factories that were discovered in the middle of space were not as useless, as you peace loving fools put it. How are we supposed to win this war if we don't have enough factories in which we can manufacture our mobile suits and warships, not to mention all of the ammunition that's being used to kill the Earth Alliance forces on our campaigns," Zala explained, but another Purple Coat began to speak.

"All right, so if these discoveries are of great importance, then why haven't Maius Industries shift their operations there? Moreover, we don't know how to make a GN Drive, out of all engines. Those blasted things destroyed them, remember?" Jack Aker spoke back. He pointed at the blueprint on the board. "And what is that supposed to be?"

Zala smirked. "A blueprint that Celestial Being had left behind. According to this blueprint, the mobile suit was supposed to be the next generation Twin Drive machine, but even I have no clue what it meant. Although if we can examine the next photo here." He clicked the remote as the image changed to what appeared to be the 00 Raiser in the middle of battle against the Reborns Cannon. "You'll see that the mobile suit with those two cones give an even bigger output."

"There's one problem: Celestial Being is the only one that can actually create such a machine. Even if your factories created that suit, you still don't know the secret to making the GN Drive, and believe me. These secretive guys would rather commit suicide rather than tell you their secrets. Celestial Being was built around secrecy, and not even George Glenn managed to unlock the secret of the GN Drive in his Jupiter Exploration," Jack continued to speak. "The only way to complete the machine without having to build the GN Drive is to make the frame first, and then decide on what we should do with it. My son Axis's machine could provide the answers, but its GN Drives emit red particles, rather than the green particles you wanted."

"That is why we will have to summon Axis Aker back into the PLANTs so we can analyze his GN Drives and mass produce them after completing the report. We want to experiment on attaching the solar reactors into the CGUEs if possible. GINNs won't do, since they can easily be destoyed by the powerplant's overload," Zala concluded. "That concludes our meeting until Commander Axis Aker returns to the PLANTs."

* * *

**PACIFIC OCEAN**

Six Braves flew over the Pacific Ocean as they fought off numerous attempts by the ZAFT mobile suits to sink the Archangel, with Axis's Susanoo firing its beam cannon into the Strike as Kira dodged the gigantic beam ball. Naruto grabbed his beam saber and slammed it against Axis's GN Katana while Athrun and Kira traded beam fire. Sakura and Hotaru accompanied Murakumo and Elijah in repelling the Buster's attacks as the Blitz went underneath the Archangel, forcing Elijah to pursue it.

"What are you doing, Dearka? Sink that ship right now!" Yzak snapped angrily, but Naruto sped towards him and kicked the Duel aside. "What the hell is that machine capable of? It's three times faster than the Strike!"

"Yzak, be careful with that machine. It's an improvement of the Susanoo, and it can transform like the Flag." Axis readied the GN Katana and slammed it against Naruto's beam sabers. "The machine I'm fighting right now is the Commander Type. The others are just Regular Types."

Axis dodged an incoming shot from Mu's Skygrasper as well as Tolle's new GN Cannon. He also spotted the Strike standing in front of the bridge as Kira fired his beam rifle at the moving targets. He and Naruto kept on clashing blades with each other as the Brave fired its beam rifle after Naruto put away his beam saber.

"Athrun, you and Yzak target the engines. If we can damage even one of them, the Archangel can't stay airborne foreover," Axis ordered. "Be thankful Alex isn't here to mess things up."

"That bitch. What is her problem anyways?" Dearka fired his beam cannon into the Archangel on its starboard side. "Athrun, that weird machine is coming for you!"

Athrun had already destroyed the CIWS cannons by the time Murakumo slammed his Brave into the Aegis. Nicol also fired the beam lancers at the Valiant cannon, destroying it in the process. Elijah transformed his Brave into mobile armor mode and forced the Blitz to pursue it instead after he fired his beam rifle.

"Tell the Strike and the Brave unites to target the Guuls. If possible, order Ensign Yamato to go on top of the black Brave unit," Natarle told Miriallia. She relayed the order to Kira, who asked back.

"Are you sure it's gonna work, Ma'am?" Kira wondered.

Natarle looked back at Miriallia and Kira. "I'm not sure if it will, but it has to be done."

Kira nodded reluctantly and flew upwards as Naruto caught him just in time. The Strike grabbed the Brave's back and began to attack the Aegis and the Blitz, which fired their beam rifles back at them. The Duel caught up with the Strike on top of the Brave as Yzak attempted to slice the Strike's legs off, but Elijah fired his beam rifle back at the Duel.

"Is he trying to take me on at that speed?" Kira aimed his beam rifle at Yzak's Guul and fired at it at the same time Naruto straffed the Duel with its beam machine guns from the waists. The Strike also sliced off the Duel's beam saber as the Buster, Blitz and Aegis shook off their pursuers. "Naruto, I'm climbing off your back now."

"Roger that." Naruto turned his attention back towards Axis's Susanoo and grabbed his beam saber to parry off the Susanoo's GN Katana. Suddenly, Naruto spotted something on his radar as he flew away to confirm what it is.

On the island of Onogoro, the Violet Frame was preparing to take off with a couple of Orb Navy ships guarding their territory from any incoming intruders. Sasuke and Erica Simmons chatted over the comm, even as he spotted what appeared to be a black colored Brave unit flying over Orb territory. It was rejoined by three strange looking mobile suits as they flew away even before the Orb ships could fire on them in self-defense.

"Mr. Uchiha, the Archangel may be out in the ocean. I need you to guide it into the harbor if possible. I'm not sure if the Archangel as Ms. Athha aboard or now, but check just in case," Erica explained.

Sasuke nodded. "All right then."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. After all, you've been practicing a lot on the Violet Frame, and I'd be surprised if you're defeated by the enemy should they come here," she said as the comm went off. Sasuke took off from Onogoro Island and sped off towards the Orb ships. He took aim at the Aegis, but made sure that he purposely missed his shot. He pulled the trigger as the Aegis dodged the shot.

"What's going on?" Athrun asked curiously as Axis moved in front of him. For some odd reason, Axis didn't charge towards the newcomer as he normally would if he fought against anyone who came in his way. "Axis, why are you not taking the new machine on?"

"It's the Orb fleet. We're sitting ducks here, but so is the Archangel. Although we have the advantage over the legged ship, the fact that the Solbraves are flying into Orb's airspace makes it harder for us to engage them without having to violate Orb's neutrality," Axis explained. He then noticed the black Brave standing face to face with the Violet Frame. "What are you up to, Naruto Uzumaki?"

Meanwhile, Naruto transformed his Brave unit into mobile suit mode as he stood off against the Violet Frame. Inside the Violet Frame's cockpit, Sasuke tightened his grip on the controls as he aimed his beam rifle at the Brave unit while Naruto also aimed his beam rifle as well. Sakura and the remaining members of the Solbraves rushed to his aid and stopped.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Sakura asked back.

"Is that you inside the cockpit, Naruto? If you are inside, then maybe we should settle our differences once and for all. Even though we may be bounded by a terrible destiny, we can only end it if we fought and killed each other!" Sasuke shouted back. Memories of his shared past with Naruto resurfaced into his mind as tears fell from his eyes. "Despite the fact that we ended up in a different world, it doesn't matter if one of us is dead."

"Don't be silly, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. "We have a common enemy now, don't we? And were you supposed to do something for your handler? Then go ahead and kill me!"

"Unfortunately, I didn't come here to kill you. I only came here to confirm if a white ship is heading towards Orb. Even though I promised to kill you, we will have to settle our fight in due course. For now, we will-" Sasuke was interrupted by Cagalli's broadcast over the Orb fleet. Everyone inside one of the Orb ships was confused as Cagalli continued to speak.

"How could you say something like that? The Archangel will proceed into Orb's territorial waters, but don't fire on this ship!" she shouted.

Sasuke kept the comm open so he can hear the conversation. "What are you up to?"

"I'm not sure if I follow what you're saying, but who are you?" an Orb officer asked.

"The question is, who are you? If you don't have the authority to make the appropriate decision, then speak with my father, Uzumi Nara Athha!" Cagalli finished speaking. Her outburst towards the Orb officer surprised everyone who listened to her speech. "My name is Cagalli Yula Athha."

Back in the cockpit, Sasuke lowered his beam rifle down as Naruto transformed his machine back into its mobile armor mode. Murakumo and the rest of the Solbraves accompanied Naruto towards the Archangel with Sasuke following them. Axis continued to watch as his adversaries flew in a formation in order to deter some of his remaining mobile suits from firing on the damaged ship.

"There's no point in continuing our attacks on the legged ship. We better retreat or we'd send Orb into the Earth Alliance's camp," Axis advised, much to his subordinates' outrage.

"So we're going to let the legged ship enter their territory?" Dearka asked back aghastly.

Axis grimaced. "It's either the legged ship that gets sunk or us getting shot down by the Orb fleet. Don't forget that they have an operational mobile suit along with them." He pointed the GN Katana in the Violet Frame's direction. "Dearka, aim at the engines again. I'll chase the Skygrasper off."

The Susanoo took off in pursuit against the Skygrapser, allowing the Buster to hit the engines with its beam cannons. Inside the Susanoo's cockpit, Axis continued to shuffle around the OS until he came across an unknown system, marked 'Trans-Am'. Beside the word 'Trans-Am' was the status 'inactive'. He closed his eyes and sunk into his thoughts.

"If I don't test the trans-Am right now, our chance to sink the legged ship will slip through our hands. At the same time, if I activate it after its inactivity for two thousand years, who knows what might happen," Axis told himself. "It's now or never." He opened his eyes and pressed some buttons as the Susanoo glew into a shade of red. "Trans-Am System activated. From here on in, the data acquired from the Susanoo's actions while in Trans-Am mode will be sent into the homeland."

"Did that mobile suit just went a lot faster?" Mu struggled to shake off his pursuer, but the Astrea managed to block the Susanoo's sword strike. "Mr. Stad, nice timing."

"Nice timing indeed. You're facing the ultimate trump card of all GN powered mobile suits," Fon told Mu. He also pressed a button as the Astrea glew in the shade of red. "I have it too, so leave the high speed combat to me."

"So you have Trans-Am as well. I understand." Axis raised his katana above the Astrea's head. "Since you're piloting a Gundam, that means you'll have the Trans-Am too!"

"What made you activate it, big shot? From what I can see here, I'll outlast you in this duel, even if you have the Twin Drive System. After all, your GN Drive is half of what my GN Drive can do," Fon replied back. He fired his beam rifle at the Susanoo, but Axis dodged it right away. "Heh. Not bad indeed, but can you dodge this?"

Fon continued to fire his beam rifle as he chased the Susanoo around while the Archangel moved to the side after sustaining a severe damage on the engines and its CIWS guns. Unfortunately for Axis, the presence of Orb fighter planes as well as some leftover Flags and Realdos from the AD era deterred him and Athrun from delivering the cop de grace into the Archangel.

* * *

**ORB UNION**

Sasuke led the Solbraves into the hangars of Morgenroette as they were joined by Fon and Revive fifteen minutes later. Leonard was the last one to join the group as the GRM Gundam entered the hangar after Morgenroette employees helped dock Elijah's Brave unit inside. Sakura seemed to be a bit surprised at Sasuke's behavior while working for Morgenroette, considering the fact that he and Naruto tried to kill each other back in Kumogakure before Naraku's chaotic entrance had derailed the Fourth Ninja World War. Right now, Sakura decided to put aside the current issues facing her ex-teammates and gazed at the beautiful sights of this pristine, neutral nation.

Inside the ZAFT Vosgulov submarine, Yzak and his teammates expressed their outrage at the initial report the commander of the Cousteau received. Axis didn't seem to be in the mood to join in the discussion as he focused on the new letter he received from Le Creuset. In the letter, Axis was told about the discovery of the space factory that may prove to become the decisive factor in ZAFT's war effort, but Chairman Zala also learned of a couple of prototype Gundams that Celestial Being had in mind.

"They may be treating us like fools, but for now we'll play along with what they've said," Athrun spoke first.

Dearka objected. "Not you too, Athrun. We knew the legged ship has entered Orb territory and didn't leave since." Axis stood up and walked towards them. "Axis? Is there anything you wish to say?"

"Just a letter from Commander Creuset." Axis gave Dearka Creuset's letter for him and Yzak to read. Their mouths opened in shock at the discovery of a potential project that ZAFT may be launching. "While the legged ship is getting repaired in Orb, may I suggest that we look forward to helping Carpentaria with the new project. I will go back into the PLANTs and take part in some unknown operation against Celestial Being."

"Celestial Being? Come to think of it, they're not really intervening as always. I wonder what became of them," Yzak wondered. Nicol nodded in agreement. "Of course, our machines are of no help against those monsters."

"True, but my machine's GN Drive may be mass produced if Chairman Zala could be persuaded to allow solar reactors with red particles to be built. We're planning to equip them into the CGUEs, or more importantly, we're mass producing the CGUE DEEP Arms and installing the GN Drive with them. The last time Celestial Being was defeated in a combined operation, the original GN-X proved to be a decisive factor in ushering a new age. Of course, we know how it turned out. This time, we're not going to let the Earth Forces get their hands on a GN based weaponry," Axis spoke back. He retrieved the letter and returned to his room.

"Like what Axis said, we can't just barge into Orb and ask where the legged ship is or we'd risk a diplomatic scandal. Commander Aker for one, is an ingenious commander and his insight on the broader picture is accurate. We'll only sneak in if Carpentaria didn't succeed in applying pressure on Orb. Other than that, Carpentaria also has to worry about guerrilla attacks from an inactive orbital elevator. That is how Commander Aker will go back to the PLANTs, through that elevator and into the Heaven's Pillar. For now, we'll do what he says. In the meantime, the other Commander Aker might join us on our infiltration," Athrun spoke back once Axis was out of sight. Yzak and Dearka expressed their concerns about having Alex Aker, out of all people, to join them.

"She'd probably screw up in this mission, no doubt about it. Just like how she spoiled Commander Aker's fight with that relic," Dearka murmured. "Anyways, we'll probably deal with it when the time comes." Suddenly, a Green coat approached Athrun and gave him a slip of paper as he saluted and returned. "Athrun?"

"Axis has gone into the orbital elevator, but he definitely has to watch where he's going. Other than that, Alex is coming directly into Orb, disguised as a tourist. Geez, out of all the covers she's doing, a tourist is definitely a bad idea." Athrun passed the paper to Nicol's hands.

In the heart of the city in Orb, Alex Aker sat down inside a cafe while sipping a cup of coffee. She managed to arrive in this tiny nation after a long journey from the PLANTs through the orbital elevator and into Carpentaria. She was surprised at how the orbital elevator still managed to function, given the fact that the long dead Human Reform League couldn't exist anymore, with the advent of the Earth Forces. She got off the table and left her change on the table as she spotted a white mobile suit enter the other side of the island.

"Let's see what you have got there, Orb military personnel." Alex stopped as a stranger pulled her in. "What are you doing?"

"If I were you, I'd infiltrate this place as an employee of Morgenroette instead of a tourist. You'd easily be suspected of espionage," the stranger spoke back. He gave her a folder, which contained her ID as a Morgenroette technician. "Your cover will be a senior technician of Morgenroette. Now change into your new clothes while I give these IDs to the Aker team."

"Oh, yeah. Axis's own little gang. I'm surprised that they're joining me on this infiltration mission," Alex chuckled and left the stranger alone. She went towards the taxi and directed the driver into Morgenroette. Twenty minutes later, the taxi arrived on the outskirts of the island, allowing Alex to enter the company's airfields and hangars. She waved at a few employees who smiled back at her. "Now then, where is the factory?"

She climbed on a company jeep as the driver took her right inside the factory. A couple of mobile suits similar to the Violet Frame, but with a different color scheme, stood beside it with the Strike at the center for a special analysis. A brown haired man was inside the cockpit as he and Erica Simmons analyzed the Strike's data. Alex tapped Erica's shoulder and waved as Kira's eyes widened at her appearanace.

"Hello there, Miss..."

"Oh, it's Sasha Mason," Alex told her false name to Erica. "So what's the status of this mobile suit?"

"The Strike? Well, we're just trying to develop a similar OS for these M1 Astrays. Apparently they still have some glitches in the OS, but I'm sure Mr. Yamato will be able to help," Erica spoke back. Alex nodded and began to move a bit closer towards Kira.

"I'm surprised that a young man like you is able to pilot a mobile suit like the Strike," Alex spoke cheerfully, but her expression changed. "Of course, I'm sure that you're the Strike's pilot, right?"

Kira paused for a moment before he nodded. "Well, it's a long story."

"Agh! Tell me about it. I was stuck in the designs department for eleven months before they decided to promote me into the real deal. I mean, what I'm doing right now is nothing to what you've been doing." Alex noticed something on the Strike's OS. "If I were you, I'd tweak up the calibration system. You may need to rely on the flexibility of your machine or else it'd malfunction."

"Oh, thanks." Kira smiled back at her. "I'm not sure if we'd meet somewhere."

Alex whispered on Kira's ear. "Close the cockpit's doors." Kira did what she told him and faced him. "Who really are you?"

"I'm Kira."

"Kira...Yamato?" she spoke back curiously. "Now I know why Athrun failed to get you into ZAFT's side. You have friends aboard the Archangel."

Now Kira was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "I'm not sure if I should tell you about this, uh..."

"You can call me Alex Aker. Besides, you managed to battle Axis at one point, but all he cares about is his honor. Besides Axis, I kinda find your pal Athrun a bit too naive. Anyways, you can open the cockpit now," Alex replied back sweetly as Kira complied. "After work, maybe we can go for a walk or something."

"I can't. I've got to meet my parents," Kira answered. He wrote something on a scrap piece of paper. "But we can talk more later on after we're done, right?"

"Sure, why not," Alex nodded. Once Kira turned back towards Erica, Alex chuckled. "I'm glad to have met you, Kira Yamato. It'd be a shame if you died, but for now, you should live your life to the fullest."

* * *

**CELESTIAL BEING SHIP, PTOLEMAIOS 3**

Leif Recitativo, or rather, Beside Pain, typed on his keyboard inside the Diabound's cockpit while Tieria and Regene were talking to Reena outside the hangar. Since Celestial Being had no interventions to perform, they've been so idle aboard the Ptolemaios 3, but the news of ZAFT's discovery of their space factory meant that they may be forced to retreat elsewhere. What they didn't know was that the Susanoo had already returned into the PLANTs and had its GN Drive analyzed for mass production.

"So I hear that our gifts have been delivered safely. What's next?" Tieria asked Reena.

"What's next, is our plans to recapture the space factory and retrieve the blueprints," Reena answered back, but Regene shook his head.

"ZAFT has already received the blueprints, remember? All we have to do is to wait until it's completed, and then we capture it. Other than that, we'll have to upgrade our Gundams and pass it on to the new pilots, such as Goud Veia and Leo Sieg. Of course, if Naruto joins, then there's the issue of two more pilots to recruit," the Tieria lookalike spoke. "Right now, we're concerned about Beside Pain and what he'll do next."

"Has anyone seen Hixar Fermi lately?" Leif called out in his normal voice.

Tieria shook his head. "He told me that he and Hayana were going down to Earth in order to stay in Orb. I wonder what he's doing there."

"Oh, I've sent him on the surface for some grocery shopping. We are running out of foodstufs, so we will have to wait until Mr. Fermi returns. In the meanwhile, shall we go ahead and plan our move to capture the completed unit ZAFT may build?" Reena asked back. The Meisters nodded in agreement and followed her out of the hangar.

In the Laurasia frigate owned by the Serpent Tail, Kirabi laid down on his bed, writing a new rap on his notebook when Loretta knocked on his door. Outside on the corridor, Karin and Kazahana took turns loading three boxes full of fresh fruit into the storage.

"May I come in?" Loretta asked. Kirabi nodded. She sat down beside his bed. "I was wondering if Gai had sent a message back to us yet. It seems to us that he may have forgotten all about the Serpent Tail."

Kirabi chuckled. "Murakumo Gai isn't the type of guy to abandon his work. He's probably too busy to leave a message, because of his merc work. Mercs rarely get the downtime they need, since they've got clients for work."

"In any case, you may need to help us until Murakumo and Elijah get back to space. We fear for our friends in Celestial Being. Come with me, and I will show you," Loretta replied back. She led Kirabi out of his room and into the bridge where three crew members talked amongst themselves as Loretta retrieved the disk from the table and inserted it in the slot. An image of what appeared to be a CGUE but with a different armament was shown. "This CGUE's image was taken by a ZAFT soldier named Yuki. He may be a member of ZAFT, but he's not a pro-Zala member. We think Chairman Zala may try to mass produce something like the CGUE on the screen, but with the GN Drives analyzed from a skinny looking mobile suit that was discovered by the Le Creuset team."

"Whoa, that skeletor got nothin' to hide," Kirabi whistled. He pointed at the GN Drives on the Susanoo's waists. "Whoever is piloting such a machine must have been one, gutsy pilot. I mean, the droids those guys in the red have are nothing compared to the skeletor machine over there."

"I believe they're called ZAFT, and yes, the GINNs wouldn't defeat a machine like the Susanoo. In other words, we may have to ask Celestial Being if we can help them defeat the ZAFT forces attempting to capture or destroy their mobile suits." Loretta took out the disk from the slot and pocketed it.

* * *

Inside a ZAFT military factory, twenty CGUES rolled out of the assembly line but there was a gaping hole in the back. The hole was meant to be installed with a new GN Drive that was produced by Maius after retrieving the data from the Susanoo's GN Drive which was also parked in the hangar as well. Axis noticed the CGUE's different assortment of weapons, ranging from an experimental beam rifle to an experimental beam saber, all of them were carefully manufactured based on the Earth Alliance's prototype mobile suits.

Axis and Le Creuset waited for ten minutes until his father arrived in the factory. Both pilots saluted to Jack Aker, but he only looked at Le Creuset, ignoring his own son. The younger Aker boy silently glared at his father for such a rebuff in public, but kept his thoughts to himself for now. Jack led the two ZAFT officer inside the factory as numerous technicians were at work, supervising the installment of their first GN Drive.

"As we predicted, these solar reactors can only emit red particles. Moreover, due to the budget constraints and resource issues, we were forced to create only ten CGUEs equipped with the GN Drive, and the rest of these CGUEs that you gentlemen are seeing right now will be run by battery power. As of this stage, we still don't have the planned Neutron Jammer Canceller designed and built yet, but it will be installed in the two new models that will be rolled out very soon," Jack explained. Axis spotted three ZAFT Red Coats approaching them and saluted, among them a brown haired woman. "Lieutenant Hahnenfuss has been so kind to help us with the designs, since they're all based on the DEEP Arms."

"How do you do, Lieutenant?" Axis shook Shiho's hand. "You probably know who I am, right?"

"Of course, Commander Aker. You're Yzak's current commander right now until you return to Earth," Shiho guessed, but Le Creuset shook his head.

"I'm afraid he may not return to Earth just yet. We still have the issue of Celestial Being's presence in the homeland, and unless we launch an offensive to take their mobile suits, ZAFT can't undertake any campaigns right now," Le Creuset explained. He turned to Jack and continued to speak. "I've also noticed your response to your son's presence, and frankly, it's appalling."

"He's of no concern to me, just a rejected defect who deserves to die," Jack spoke back coldly to Axis.

"Resentment can build up in many ways, you'll be surprised at how your defective son will respond," Le Creuset smirked, but Axis already left the factory. "Anyways, your daughter's safe in Orb, posing as an employee in Morgenroette. Interestingly enough, she's doing well inside the company for her cover, but I am a bit concerned that she may inadvertently help the enemy more than she may help us."

Jack snorted. "Alex and Axis have the same characteristics of having contempt for handicaps. They wanted to make sure their enemies have the fighting strength so they can fight them on an equal level."

"Honorable as it may be, wouldn't it backfire on them?" Creuset spotted a CGUE which already have a GN Drive attached to it. "Perhaps a test run is in order."

"I agree." Jack turned to Shiho. "Lieutenant Hahnenfuss, I want you to prepare a CGUE for Commander Le Creuset right away."

"Yes, sir." Shiho issued the orders to the technicians as Le Creuset climbed inside the CGUE's cockpit. "Anyways, what should we designate this CGUE? It's definitely a step up from the DEEP Arms."

"Just call it a CGUE GN-X for now until Chairman Clyne and Defense Chairman Zala names the machines officially." Jack watched as Le Creuset adjusted the OS inside the CGUE and began to activate the GN Drive. "So far so good, Commander Creuset."

"Well then, shall we have a mock combat?" Creuset asked, but Jack shook his head.

"We can't have mobile suits fighting in the colony or we may end up destroying it like Heliopolis was destroyed. Just test it for agility and flexibility," Jack advised the masked man. Le Creuset stepped on the pedal as the CGUE flew upwards and flipped once it reached the sky. The masked man also activated the CGUE's beam saber, which glowed a shade of pink. He was surprised since the color of the beam saber is the same kind as the captured Earth Forces's mobile suits if they were equipped with a beam saber. Once Le Creuset finished with the demonstration, Jack and the technicians clapped as he climbed down. "For a ZAFT ace, you sure have adjusted into the controls of the CGUE GN-X."

Le Creuset groaned lightly. "Yes, but the Gs are a bit too much for my body to take."

"Don't worry; you'll be fine in a few hours. Just rest up until you're ready," Jack advised him as the Susanoo began to leave. "Hold on a second! I didn't authorize my son to leave yet!"

"Sir, we've got an incoming mobile suit from what appeared to be a Laurasia-class ship. It's an old Enact and it's not engaging any of our mobile suits in combat," a ZAFT Red Coat standing beside a regular CGUE spoke up. "The Susanoo is currently on its way to engage it."

"Axis, he's only good at rushing into battle without any instructions at all." Jack could only watch as the Susanoo left the PLANTs and disappear.

Out in the open, Axis spotted the Laurasia warship and saw an Enact launching from its catapult. He readied his GN Katana and clashed blades with the Enact, as Kirabi struggled to hold him off.

"Man, what's up with this guy? He's tougher than all the grunts put together." Kirabi kicked Axis aside as he fired the sonic rifle back at the Susanoo, but the shots didn't harm him. "Damn it, how am I supposed to beat this guy?"

Suddenly, a streak of green light passed by as the Diabound fired its beam rifle at the Susanoo. This time, Axis was forced to use the GN Field to block the shot as Beside Pain slammed his beam saber into the Susanoo's katana.

"I'm quite surprised to see you here, so-called Black Shogun," Beside Pain spoke first. He stepped back as Axis swung the katana towards the Diabound, forcing the insane Innovade to put up his shield to block the strike. "We may have been idle for a long time, but we didn't kill time just by doing nothing."

"Your Gundams are a pain in the neck, I can guarantee you that." Axis kicked the Innovade aside, but he had to dodge an incoming beam fire from the other direction as the Hermos, Tristan and Dagonet arrived to back up the Diabound. "Four Gundams in one place? I'd better retreat."

The Susanoo left right away even before Tieria could fire his beam cannon while Hixar and Regene spotted the Laurasia warship approaching the Ptolemaios 3. All of the Gundams returned to their mothership as Kirabi and Reed Wheeler joined the Meisters inside. Once Reena and Demetrius Vashti greeted the newcomers, they directed the entire group into the conference room.

"I'd like to say thanks for lettin' us come here on this state of the art warship," Kirabi told Reena, who simply giggled. "You guys may be wondering why we joined you here. It's probably because-"

Reed Wheeler finished the sentence for him. "-we'd like to form an alliance with your organization in case ZAFT attacks. We only have a few Enacts and Flags, but we can help you repair and upgrade those Gundams of yours."

Tieria glanced at Reed. "You guys would have already joined us if Naruto accepted our offer."

"On the contrary, tough guy, Naruto couldn't join because he needed to gain experience when dealing with the conflicts around the world. On top of that, it would have been better if both Naruto and that Zala kid joined. Right now though, they're on Earth and I guarantee you that the Zala kid is doing his best to track down a white ship," Kirabi spoke back. Tieria was about to continue, but Kirabi held up his hand. "Of course, once the Serpent Tail and Celestial Being join forces, it may only be a matter of time before Naruto has to join by default. So far, he's on the list, as well as Goud Veia."

"We already have a roster as to whom we will recruit and train. Naruto and Goud Veia are, like you say, perfect candidates. Leo Sieg is also a suitable candidate, but the final one or two candidates will either only be me or the other two pilots I haven't met yet," Tieria replied back. Regene nodded in agreement, but spoke soon after.

"I also believe the big guy with the white beard should join." All of the Meisters were shocked at Regene's suggestion. "Think about it; two famed warriors from their own world, fighting for peace as part of Celestial Being."

"That may be true, but it could easily expand more in terms of pilots," Hixar answered back. "Athrun Zala should join us as a member of Celestial Being, but the fact that his father would oppose such a move remains the current issue we're facing."

"So why not get Athrun to join at any chosen time? It seems to me that there may be people within the PLANTs and ZAFT who are not comfortable with Zala's actions. I don't mean Zala the younger, I meant Chairman Zala," Reed spoke in a serious tone. Unfortunately, Demetrius left the conference room in a hurry as an alarm went off in the bridge. Ten minutes later, he returned to the conference room with some bad news. "Guys, VEDA has just notified me that a group of guerrillas are attacking the former HRL Orbital Elevator in New Guinea, close to the Carpentaria base. ZAFT forces are there right now, fighting the guerrillas off."

Reena frowned at the new information given to them, but she beckoned for the Meisters to leave. "Be careful when you intervene in the conflict. Not only do we have to avoid damaging the orbital elevator, but this kind of mission just popped out of nowhere."

"Roger that."

All four Gundams left the Ptolemaios 3 an hour later after Reed and Kirabi returned to their Laurasia warship. Once the Gundams entered the atmosphere, they made their way into the HRL Orbital Elevator where five Anfs were engaged in combat against ten ZuOOTs and twenty GINNs with twelve Hellions backing the Anfs up. The Hermos fired its shoulder cannon at the incoming GINN as the shot destroyed it immediately. Hixar aimed his sniper rifle at an Anf and shot its leg as Regene launched the missiles out of the Tristan's bomb rack, destroying the Hellions who tried to attack him.

"Is it just me, or does this mission seem to be too easy?" Leif asked curiously as he shot down an airborne GINN. Once the last enemy mobile suit was destroyed, the Gundams paused for a moment to see if there were any traps laid out for them. "Strange. There seems to be no trouble-"

"What's up in the sky?" Regene looked up. The Meisters spotted what seemed to resemble an orbital pod descending down into the surface as it opened up to reveal twenty CGUES. It was not the CGUEs that the Meisters were concerned about. They were shocked at how the CGUEs had a GN Drive on their backs. "Are you kidding me? So even ZAFT's stealing GN technology from us?"

"Remember the skeletal mobile suit we encountered earlier?" Tieria asked his comrades. "I believe ZAFT has examined its GN Drive and created it to attach at the CGUE's back. It looks like we're in for the most difficult fight for our lives."

All of the Gundams readied their beam weapons as the twenty CGUEs opened fire towards the Meisters' relief, only five CGUEs were equipped with the GN Drive but the remaining non-GN powered CGUEs fired their plasma cannon at the Dagonet. Hixar was forced to block the shot after Regene kicked the CGUE attempting to sneak up behind the Dagonet.

"Any ideas on where the hell are we supposed to go after our mission's over?" Regene growled. He suddenly noticed the Diabound as it became immobile. "Tch. Leif's gonna go crazy again."

Leif groaned and screamed in agony as he struggled to contain his sadistic alter ego in check, even as five CGUEs armed with the beam rifle managed to destroy the Diabound's left shoulder. Tieria stood in front of Leif as he activated the GN Field to deflect the shots, but the CGUEs kept on coming. To make matters worse, thirty ZuOOTs arrived at the battlefield from their Carpentaria base as their heavy missiles were launched towards them. Finally, the Diabound stood up again as Beside Pain took over Leif's body once more.

"So you fools managed to destroy my Diabound's left arm. It doesn't matter to me, because I only need one arm to kill you!" Beside Pain lunged forward as he parried off the beam saber strike from a CGUE GN-X. "Not bad, but we have more experience with GN based weaponry. You ZAFT rookies are nothing but amateurs."

"Ahh! You won't look down on us like the rest of the grunts. We're not going to lose this match!" Jaden Tanner slammed his beam saber into Beside Pain's own. "I don't care if I even left a scratch on your Gundam, I can still win this fight!"

Regene kicked Jaden's CGUE aside and fired back. "These guys are awfully skilled."

"They're coordinators. What did you expect? A-LAWS grunts?" Hixar retorted, even though it was probably not a good time to make a joke. He aimed the Dagonet's sniper rifle again, but Jaden sliced the sniper rifle with his beam saber. "Crap! My rifle!"

"Looks like your weak in close range combat." Jaden put away his beam rifle and grabbed a second beam saber from his CGUE's waists. Hixar grabbed his own beam saber to parry off Jaden's sword strike, but three of his teammates launched their missiles towards the Dagonet. "Guys, we're not going to die here while Commander Aker's away."

"Yes, sir." The ZAFT CGUE pilots continued their assault on the Gundams while Beside Pain struggled to dodge the beam shots aimed at him.

"So when do we retreat?" Regene growled.

Tieria gritted his teeth in frustration. "I'm not sure, but I wonder if now is the good time to activate it."

"It? You don't mean-" Hixar gasped.

"Yes. We need to use it to get out of here, and fast." Tieria began to press three buttons on his cockpit's controls as the Hermos detached some of its armor off, knocking the three CGUEs attempting to surround him. "Unlike Virtue and Nadleeh, the Hermos can reattach its armor after battle. For now, I'm going to create us an escape route." The skinny Gundam aimed the discarded shoulder cannons at the CGUEs. "With this, Gundam Critas!"

* * *

OK, so this is the first time I've updated this fic in a long time, and I've finally gotten my inspiration back from reading a couple of Gundam fics and listening to J-pop songs, although there's also school work to be done as well. However, I'm actually off my training class and am working on a practicum so I may have lots of time for continuing with this fic, and hopefully I can draw inspiration from this fic for the new Code Geass fic I'm planning to work on, Vengeful Lion and Raging Bear. Along with that, there's also an original Gundam crossover fic I'm planning, but I spent most of my time in my alternate history timelines for precisely the same purpose: my Code Geass fic. Anyways, please correct me if there's a mistake.


	19. Author's Note

Hello readers:

It seems that my writer's block is far worse than I had anticipated, with notable fics being delayed from updates. With the new Gundam AGE show coming out, as well as the remastered Gundam SEED series and a new Code Geass Gaiden movie coming out in the summer time, I'm at loss as to how I'm supposed to improve Dimensional Innovation. To be precise, the Naruto Shippuden series aren't going to end soon. Finally, I'm having a hard time trying to motivate myself to write because of school. (Of course, being in school takes up a lot of time from writing fics)

That being said, I am open to suggestions on new ideas that could either improve or change the plot lines of Dimensional Innovation. It may also be possible that I might not keep the NarutoxLacus pairing since I had some ideas for him being an Earth Forces soldier in both the SEED and Destiny arcs. There's also the planned Code Geass rewrite that I'm doing but I first have to make the timeline for it since it will involve a Russian superpower, like the previous Code Geass threads that I made.

To wrap up my speech here, I have no intention of quitting fanfiction, though I am having doubts about whether or not I can still take challenges or issue new ones. Until then, have a nice day.


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